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obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


The 
tot 


The 
pos 
oft 
film 


Ori( 

beg 

the 

sior 

oth( 

first 

sior 

or  il 


The 
shal 
TIN 
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Mar 
difft 
enti 
begi 
righ' 
reqt 
metl 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

y 

12X 

16X 

23X 

24X 

28X 

32X 

lire 

details 
ues  du 
:  modifier 
ger  une 

filmage 


f 
i6es 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanlts 
to  the  generosity  of: 

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Carleton  University 

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sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  witF-  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  ^^-  (meaning  "CON- 
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L'exemplaire  film*  fut  reprodult  grAce  d  la 
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IMaoOdrum  Library 
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conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
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dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
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la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


re 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc..  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
film^s  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diffirents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reprodult  en  un  seui  clich6,  il  est  film6  d  partir 
de  Tangle  supdrieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  ban.  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


y  errata 
id  to 

nt 

ne  pelure, 

ipon  d 


n 


1 

2 

3 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

TH 

3 


THE  '^UNKNOWN"  LIBRARY 


the4iaking 

OF  MARY. 

ps  -       / 


BY 


JEAN  FORSYTH 


....'   \ 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CASSELL  PUBLISHING  CO. 

31  East  lyxH  St.  (Union  Square) 


CnrvRir.HT,   i^')S,  BY 
THE  CASSELL  PUBLISHINO  CO. 

All ri;:hts  reserved. 


TH«  MERSHON   COMPANY   PRB9S, 
RAHWAY,  N.  J. 


PROLOGUE. 


STURDY        northeast 

wind  was  rattling  the 
doors  and  windows  of 
a  deserted  farmhouse 
in  Western  Michigan. 
The  building  was  not  old,  meas- 
ured by  years,  but  it  had  never 
been  painted  or  repaired,  and  its 
wooden  face,  prematurely  lined 
with  weather  stains,  looked  as  if  it 
had  borne  the  wear  and  tear  of 
centuries.  The  windows,  like  lid- 
less  eyes,  stared  vacantly  at  the 
flat  stubble  ftelds  and  the  few 
spindling  trees,  a  dreary  apology 
for  an  orchard.  There  were  plenty 
of  shingles  off  the  roof  to  allow 


VIM 


PH( )!.()( ;UF-. 


the  inquisitiv^e  rain-drops  to  follow 
one  another  through  the  rafters, 
and  thence  to  the  floor  of  the 
room  below,  where  the  darkness 
was  creeping  out  of  the  corners  to 
take  possession. 

The  house  had  been  but  recently 
vacated,  for  there  was  still  a 
"  slab  "  smoldering  on  the  hearth 
of  the  wide  fireplace  in  the  outer 
kitchen,  and  something  that 
looked  almost  human,  wrapped  in 
a  ragged  bedquilt,  was  lying  much 
too  near  it  for  safety.  A  friendly 
gust  of  wind  came  down  the  chim- 
ney, bringing  back  the  smoke,  and 
drawing  a  faint  cough  from  the 
bundle.  Another  gust  and 
another  cough,  and  then  a  sneeze 
which  burst  open  the  quilt,  to  dis- 
close an  ill-clad  little  girl,  six  or 
seven  years  old. 

She  gazed  about  with  drowsy 
blue  eyes  till  terror  of  the  dark- 
ness made  her  drav/  the  tattered 
comforter  over  her  head  again,  and 
crouching  nearer  to  the  smolder- 


PROLOGUE. 


IX 


ing  log,  she  tried  to  warm  her 
fingers  and  toes.  More  wind 
down  the  chimney  made  more 
smoke,  and  sent  the  child  cough- 
ing back  from  the  fireplace.  She 
was  wide  awake  now,  and  stood 
listening.  Sounds  there  were, 
indeed,  but  not  one  that  could  be 
associated  with  any  living  thing 
in  the  house.  She  felt  her  way 
around  the  walls  to  where  the 
candle  used  to  be,  but  it  was  gone. 
There  was  no  furniture  to  stumble 
over,  and  when  she  came  to  the 
side  of  the  wall  in  the  inner  room 
from  which  the  stairway  crept  up, 
she  mounted  it  on  her  hands  and 
knees,  trembling,  partly  with  cold, 
partly  with  fear  at  the  noise  made 
by  the  flapping  of  the  sole  of  one 
of  her  old  shoes.  There  was  a 
step  missing  at  the  turn  of  the 
stairs,  but  the  child  knew  where 
the  vacancy  was,  and  pulling  her- 
self over  it,  she  reached  the  land- 
ing, felt  all  around  the  walls  there, 
and  made  the  circuit  of  the  three 


I'ROI.OCIL'E. 


small  rooms  in  the  same  fashion. 
Tlicy  were  entirely  empty. 

Cautiously  the  girl  stole  down 
the  broken  stairs  and  back  to  her 
former  place  by  the  smoking  slab, 
where  she  curled  herself  up  into 
the  old  quilt  again,  as  into  a 
mother's  arms,  and  spoke  aloud, 
though  there  was  none  to  listen 
but  the  obstreperous  wind  : 

"  Anyhow  she  won't  be  here  to 
lick  me  no  more  !  "  That  thought 
seemed  to  compensate  for  dark- 
ness and  loneliness.  The  voices 
of  wind  and  rain  were  apparently 
more  kindly  than  the  human  tones 
to  which  she  had  been  accustomed, 
and  soothed  by  their  stormy  lull- 
aby, the  little  maid  fell  asleep. 

The  sunshine  poured  freely 
into  the  forsaken  house  next 
morning,  drying  up  the  damp 
floors,  and  turning  to  gold  the 
scrap  of  yellow  hair  that  showed 
through  a  hole  in  the  old  quilt. 
Presently  the  small  girl  shook 
the  covering  away  from  her  and 


PROLOGUE. 


XI 


stood  up,  to  yawn  and  stretch 
herself  out  of  tlie  stiffness  from  a 
night  spent  on  the  hard  floor. 
She  was  not  a  pretty  child,  unless 
naturally  curling  fair  hair,  that 
would  be  fairer  when  it  was 
washed,  could  make  her  so.  The 
long,  thin  legs  that  came  below 
her  torn  dress  made  her  too  tall 
for  her  age,  and  what  might  have 
been  a  passable  mouth  was  spoiled 
by  the  departure  of  two  of  the 
front  "  baby  "  teeth  and  the  tardy 
arrival  of  the  later  contingent. 

Part  of  the  day  the  child 
seemed  satisfied  with  her  new- 
found liberty.  Having  discovered 
a  stale  crust  or  two  in  a  cupboard, 
she  wanted  no  more,  for  her  diet 
had  never  been  luxurious.  Into 
every  corner  of  the  house  she 
intruded  her  small  freckled  nose, 
pulling  down  from  shelves  all 
sorts  of  odds  and  ends  that  had 
been  left  behind  as  worthless  at 
the  flitting. 

There  was  an  old  straw  bonnet 


Xll 


PROLOGUE. 


11 
III 


with  a  pair  of  dirty  strings,  and 
therewith  the  damsel  elected  to 
adorn  the  tousled  head,  which 
evidenced  but  slight  acq'iaintance 
with  comb  or  brush.  She  could 
not  find  any  feminine  garments  to 
please  her  fancy,  but  there  was  a 
boy's  jacket,  out  at  elbows  and 
ragged  round  the  edges,  which 
she  proudly  donned,  and  as  a 
finishing  touch  she  popped  her 
long  slim  legs,  old  shoes  and  all, 
into  a  worn-out  pair  of  man's  top- 
boots  that  reached  to  her  knees. 

"  I  just  wish  Mawm  Mason  had 
lef*  a  lookin'-glass  behin*,  so's  I 
could  see  how  I  look.  My! 
wouldn't  she  whack  me  if  she 
seen  me  with  this  bonnet  on ! " 
The  child  smiled  broadly  as  she 
continued  her  confidential  dress 
to  the  other  valueless  things  left 
behind.  "  I  allays  knowed  she 
warn't  my  own  mother,  an*  I'm 
glad  Pete  nor  Matty  aint  my  own 
brother  nor  sister  neither.  I'd 
like  him  to  see  me  in  his  jacket!  " 


II 


PROLOG  UK. 


xiii 


She  pulled  the  coat  across  her 
narrow  little  chest  to  where  it 
met  in  the  days  when  there  were 
buttons  on  it,  and  marched  up 
and  down  the  room,  making  as 
much  noise  as  possible  with  the 
big  boots. 

This  killing  of  time  was  all  very 
Iwell  while  the  daylight  lasted  and 
|thc  sun  warmed  up  the  frosty 
November  air,  but  when  the 
[darkness  began  to  assert  itself 
once  more  the  small  waif  did  not 
[feel  so  contented. 

"  There  aint  no  use  goin*  over 
[to     Mis*     Morgan's.     She     don't 
want  me  no  more'n   Mis'   Mason 
did.     I    guess    I'll    sleep    upstairs 
to-night  with  some  o'  them  things 
[over  me.     I'll  be  warm  anyhow." 
In  the  middle  of  the  front  bed- 
room she  heaped  up  all  the  dt^bris 
I  and  crawled  beneath    ^t.     A  fan- 
[tastic  pile  it  seemed  to  the  moon 
when  he  looked  in  after  the  rain 
|had    stopped,    the   childish    head 
iresting    on    the    cover  of   an  old 


XIV 


PROLOGUE. 


bandbox  at  one  side  and  a  pair  of 
man's  boots  sticking  out  at  the 
other. 

The  last  scrap  of  bread  was 
finished  next  day,  and  the  two 
potatoes  picked  up  in  the  yard 
proved  uneatable  without  the 
softening  influence  of  fire,  so 
there  was  nothing  for  it  but  Mrs. 
Morgan's.  After  sunset,  when 
the  rapidly  falling  temperature 
and  the  heavy  bank  of  clouds  in 
the  west  gave  warning  of  a  snow- 
storm, the  little  girl,  still  wearing 
the  old  bonnet,  boy's  jacket,  and 
man's  boots,  left  the  only  home 
she  could  remember,  and  made 
her  v/ay  slowly  over  the  hard 
rough  fields  and  snake  fences  to 
the  next  farmhouse. 

Mrs.  Morgan  was  running  in 
from  the  barn  with  a  shawl  over 
her  head. 

"Good  sakes  alive!  Mary 
Mason !  I  hardly  knowed  you. 
What  you  got  on  ?  I  thought 
you  was  one  o'  them  scarecrows 


PROLOGUE. 


XV 


iut  o*  the  fall  wheat.     Mis'  Mason 

loved  to  Californy  three  days 
igo.  Didn't  she  take  you  with 
ier  ? 

*'  No,  mawm." 

"  So  it  'pears.  Wal,  she  hadn't 
iny  call  to,  I  s'pose.  You  aint 
lone  o'  hers." 

By  this  time  they  were  in  the 
:itchen  of  the  farmhouse,  Mrs. 
^lorgan  rubbing  her  hands  above 
[he  stove,  and  Mary  Mason  also 
renturing  near,  stretching  out  her 
[hin  arms  to  the  heat,  for  the 
Adopted  jacket  was  somewhat 
Ihort  in  the  sleeves. 

**  What's    that    mark     on    yer 

Tist  ?  " 

"  Bruise— but  it  don't  hurt 
low." 

"Who  done  it?" 

"  Ma— Mis*  Mason.  I've  lots 
'orse'n  that  on  me,"  said  the 
[mall  girl  with  some  vanity. 

"There,  now!  I  jest  knew 
Ihat  Mis'  Mason  was  a  hard  case, 
[hough  my  man  would  never  hear 


II 


XVI 


PROLOGUE. 


What    3'ou   going   to   do 


?" 


to    It. 

now? 

"  I  dunno."  The  accent  im- 
plied that  to  be  a  matter  of  small 
moment. 

"  I  don't  s'pose  we  can  turn 
you  out  to-night.  There's  room 
in  the  attic  for  you  to  sleep,  but 
don't  you  go  near  one  o'  my  girls' 
beds  with  that  head  o'  yourn." 

As  a  hostess,  Mrs.  Morgan  was 
a  slight  improvement  upon  Mrs. 
Mason.  She  never  took  stick  or 
strap  to  the  foundling,  and  if  she 
occasionally  gave  her  a  cuff  on  the 
ear  it  was  never  strong  enough  to 
knock  the  girl  down.  But  the 
Morgan  children  bullied  Mary 
Mason,  the  Morgan  father 
grumbled  at  an  extra  mouth  to 
feed,  and  when  she  had  been 
about  a  monih  in  the  house  the 
mistress  of  it  told  her  she  must 
move  on. 

"  There's  an  old  dress  of  EUie's 
you  can  have,  an'  a  pair  of  Sue's 
cast-off  boots,  and  Tom's  old  cap." 


PROLOGUE. 


XVll 


"  Where  am  I  to  go,  mawm  ?" 
''  You  jest  go  on  from  one  farm- 
louse  to  another,  till  you  find  a 
[lace  where  they'll  keep  you  all 
rinter.  it's  comin*  on  to  Christ- 
las,  an'  people  won't  be  hard  on 
[e.     Tell    'em   you   aint    got   no 

)iks;' 

The  forlorn  little  pilgrim  took 
|p    her   march   down   the   snow- 
)vered  road. 


Tl 


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Bu 
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Th 


THE  MAKING  OF  MARY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

[Y    wife  is  a   theosophist. 
This  fact   may  account 

j&vyy  ft  ^*^^  ^^^  numerous  eccen- 
tricities or  be  simply 
one  of  them.  I  incline 
to  the  latter  opinion,  because  she 
preferred  the  unbeaten  to  the 
beaten  track,  both  in  walk  and 
conversation,  long  before  Modern 
Buddhism  was  ever  heard  of  in  the 
small  Western  town  of  whose 
chief  newspaper  (circulation 
largest  in  Michigan)  I  have  the 
honor  to  be  editor  and  proprietor. 
How  such  a  hot-house  plant  as 
Theosophy  ever  took  root  in  the 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


swamps  and  sands  of  the  Wolver- 
ine State  may  seem  surprising  at 
the  first  glance,  but  let  the  second 
rest  upon  our  environment — the 
absence  of  mountain  or  swift-flow- 
ing river,  the  presence  of  fever 
and  ague  and  half-burnt  pine 
woods — and  it  will  be  seen  that 
this  Eastern  lore  with  its  embar- 
rassment of  symbols  supplies  a 
long-felt  want  to  starving  imagi- 
nation. We  of  the  West  are  for- 
ever reaching  beyond  our  grasp, 
have  intelligence  and  perception, 
but  lack  the  culture  necessary  for 
discrimination,  and  therefore  the 
romantic  souls  among  us  who  rise 
above  the  rampant  materialism 
of  the  majority  go  to  the  other 
extreme,  and  hail  with  enthusiasm 
the  new-old  religion. 

"  It's  better  to  believe  too  much 
than  too  little,  but  you  thcoso- 
phists  swallow  an  awful  lot,"  I 
say  to  Belle  when  she  tries  to  con- 
vert me. 

I  am  well  aware  that  many  of 


husiasm 


THF    MAKING    OF    MARY.  3 

my  fellow-citizens  consider  me  a 
^ubject  for  commiseration  because 
I  have  lived  for  twenty  years  with 
so  erratic  a  house-mate,  for  I  have 
not  deemed  it  necessary  to  ex- 
plain to  them  that  without  the 
stimulus  of  her  enlivening  spirit, 
without  the  element  of  surprise 
constantly  contributed  by  my 
wife's  love  of  variety,  the  daily 
life,  and  therefore  the  daily  paper, 
of  their  favorite  editor  would  par- 
take of  that  flatness  which  is  the 
predominant  characteristic  of  this 
western  part  of  tht;  State  of 
Michigan. 

Our  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters enjoy  their  mother  fully  as 
much  as  I  do,  for  is  she  not  the 
most  fascinating  romancer  they 
ever  knew  ?  Now  that  they  are 
all  of  an  age  to  be  attending 
school  and  looking  out  for  them- 
selves, after  the  manner  of  inde- 
pendent young  Americans,  they 
require  from  her  nothing  but 
sympathy,  for  their  grandmother 


4  THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 

sews  their  buttons  on.  Grand- 
ma ! — Ay,  there's  the  rub. 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  owning 
that  I  am  Scotch  by  birth.  My 
mother  left  her  native  land  to 
make  her  home  with  us  entirely 
too  late  in  life  to  allow  Western 
ideas  regarding  Sabbath  observ- 
ance, the  rearing  of  children,  or 
the  amount  of  respect  due  to  the 
opinion  of  elders,  to  become  in- 
grafted upon  Scottish  prejudice 
concerning  these  matters. 

Mrs.  Gemmell  Senior  has,  how- 
ever, the  national  peculiarity  of 
judging  "blood  thicker  than 
water,"  and  whatever  her  convic- 
tions may  be  concerning  the 
methods  of  Mrs.  Gemmell  Junior, 
she  restricts  the  expression  of 
them  to  our  family  circle — in  fact, 
I  may  say,  to  myself.  She  gener- 
ally seizes  me  when  I  lie  at  my 
ease  on  the  well-worn  lounge  in 
our  sitting  room,  more  properly 
dubbed  the  "  nursery,"  for  it  is 
Liberty  Hall   for  the  youngsters. 


ii  I 


THF,    MAKING    OF    MARV 


5 


Two  rooms  have  been  knocked 
into  one  to  accommodate  their 
dolls*  houses,  bookshelves,  toys, 
and  printing  machines.  Belle  had 
the  whole  side  torn  out  of  the 
house  to  build  an  open  fire-place, 
on  purpose  to  b"rn  slabs,  over 
which  the  children  roast  pop-corn 
to  their  hearts'  content. 

"  A  body  wad  think,"  said  my 
mother  one  cold  night  five  or  six 
years  ago,  when  I  lay  on  the  sofa, 
trying  to  send  my  weariness  off  in 
smoke,  "  A  body  wad  think  there 
had  been  nae  cherritable  wark 
dune  in  the  toon  ava,  till  they 
theossiphies  set  aboot  it.  If  yer 
provost  and  baillies  lookit  efter 
things  as  they  ocht,  there  wad  be 
a  dacent  puirs-house  for  the  idig- 
nant  folk,  an'  a  wheen  daft  leddies 
like  Eesabel  needna  gang  roun* 
speirin*  at  yon  infeedels  for  their 
siller  tae  build  a  hoose  o'  refuse." 

"  There  is  a  county  poorhouse, 
mother,  but  it  doesn't  happen  to 
be  located  in  this  city,  and  they 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


won't  take  in  anybody  there  that 
hasn't  been  a  resident  of  the 
county  for  a  certain  time." 

"  Aweel !  there's  plenty  o* 
kirks,  though  ye  never  darken  the 
door  o*  ane.  Do  they  no'  leuk 
efter  their  ain  puir  folk?  " 

"  Yes  ;  but  after  nobody  else's. 
This  House  of  Refuge  is  to 
be  non-sectarian,  non-religious, 
humanitarian,  in  the  broadest 
sense  of  the  term.  Ah  !  There's 
Belle  now,"  and  I  gave  a  sigh  of 
relief  as  I  heard  my  wife's  latch- 
key in  the  front  door. 

She  came  in  with  an  out-of- 
door  breeze,  her  dark  face  glow- 
ing from  the  wintry  wind,  flakes 
of  newly  fallen  snow  resting  like 
diamonds  upon  her  prematurely 
white  hair,  and  her  brown  eyes 
sparkling  with  the  animation  of 
twenty  summers  rather  than  of 
forty-two. 

"  Children  all  gone  to  bed  ? 
That's  right !  Don't  go,  mother ! 
I'm  sure  you'll  like  to  hear  about 


THF.    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


the  House  of  Refuge.  We've 
got  it  fixed  at  last !  Those  rich 
old  lumbermen  that  won't  give  a 
cent  to  a  church,  or  any  charity 
connected  with  one,  have  gone 
to  the  bottom  of  their  pockets 
this  time.  Fancy  Peter  Wood, 
Dave — five  hundred  dollars  ! 
And  Jeff  He.iderson,  five  hun- 
dred. I  have  the  list  in  my  bag. 
Like  to  see  it?" 

*'  No'  the  nicht,  thenk  ye," 
said  my  mother  stiffly,  but  I 
added  : 

"  Hand  it  over  to  me,  and  I'll 
put  it  in  to-morrow's  ElIw. 
That's  what  they  want." 

**  Nothing  of  the  kind,  you  old 
cynic  !  I  shan't  tell  you  another 
thing  about  it."  But  still  she 
went  on  :  "  We've  taken  the  old 
Laurence  house  on  the  corner 
of  Garfield  Avenue  and  Pine 
Street,  and  it's  to  be  fitted  up 
to  accommodate  any  sort  of  refu- 
gees." 

"  Irrespective     of    race,    creed. 


8 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


sex,  or  color,"  I  whispered  par- 
enthetically. 

•'  No  one  is  ever  to  be  turned 
from  the  door  without  a  good 
square  meal,  and  there's  to  be  a 
back,  outside  stair  erected,  up 
which  a  tramp  can  go  at  any  hour 
of  the  night,  and  find  a  nice  clean 
bed  awaiting  him — locked  away 
from  the  rest  of  the  house,  of 
course." 

**  Oh,  why  ?  "  I  innocently  in- 
quired. "  Surely  you  have 
enough  faith  in  your  brother  man 
to  believe  that  he  would  not 
commit  any  breach  of  hospi- 
tality ?  " 

"/  have,"  replied  Belle,  squeez- 
ing my  recumbent  form  further 
against  the  back  of  the  sofa,  upon 
which  she  had  seated  herself. 
"  But  remember  we  are  not  all 
theosophists  on  the  Board." 

In  the  words  of  the  historic 
witness  against  Mrs.  Muldoon, 
**  That's  the  way  the  row  began  ! " 
Belle    was    elected   Treasurer   of 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


the  House  of  Refu^je,  but  as  she 
knows  nothing  of  figures,  I  had 
to  keep  the  books  of  chat  unique 
institution,  and  was  therefore 
enabled  to  form  a  practical  esti- 
mate of  its  workings. 

I  shall  not  attempt  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  numerous  "  cases  "  in 
which  my  advice,  if  not  my 
pocketbook,  was  freely  drawn 
upon,  but  shall  leave  them, 
along  with  the  description  of 
the  many  antecedent  fads  of  my 
beloved  better  half,  to  some  his- 
torian of  longer  wind,  and  shall 
content  myself  with  recounting 
the  particular  "  case  " — and  at- 
tachments— which  most  nearly 
affected  our  family  life  and  hap- 
piness. 


"  This  is  what  I  call  solid  com- 
fort," said  Belle  to  me  one  even- 
ing late  in  September,  as  we  sat 
in  the  parlor  in  a  couple  of  deep, 
springy  armchairs,  fronting  a  huge 
grate  fire,  that  would  be  banished 


lO 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


ii 


by  the  lighting  of  the  furnace. 
'•  Children  all  in  school  again, 
your  mother  off  on  a  long  visit, 
and  plenty  of  new  books  on  the 
table." 

I  looked  up  from  one  of  the 
aforesaid  new  books. 

"  Just  wait !  The  season's  busi- 
ness hasn't  begun  in  the  Refuge 
yet." 

"  Everything  is  in  good  shape 
for  it,  though.  We've  had  enough 
donations  of  groceries  and  vege- 
tables to  keep  us  going  almost  all 
winter.  We've  lots  of  wood  for 
the  furnace,  and  Mack  and  Hardy 
have  given  us  some  second-hand 
furniture  and " 

The  electric  door  bell  sent  out  a 
long,  imperative  summons. 

*'  Who  can  that  be,  Dave,  at 
this  time  of  night?  None  of  the 
boys  locked  out  ? " 

**  No ;  they  all  went  up  to  bed 
a  while  ago." 

Belle  rose  and  walked  to  the 
door.     I  pulled  the  tidy  from  my 


:':  ■! 


i      I 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


II 


chair-back  over  my  bald  head  to 
protect  me  from  the  draught,  but 
that  did  not  prevent  me  from 
hearing  what  went  on. 

"  Are  you  Mrs.  Gemmell  ? " 
This  from  a  female  voice,  breath- 
less with  excitement. 

''  I  am." 

"  Then  you  are  one  of  the 
trustees  of  the  House  of  Refuge?" 
gasped  another  feminine  speaker. 

"  Yes.     Won't  you  come  in  ?  " 

"  No,  thank  you.  We've  just 
come  to  tell  you  about  this  young 
girl  who  has  run  to  us  for  protec- 
tion." 

''We're  school-teachers,  mawm." 

"  She's  in  my  class,  and  she 
hasn't  a  friend  in  the  city  and 
knew  nowhere  else  to  go." 

Then  followed  some  hysterical 
whispers,  which  roused  my  curi- 
osity so  much  that  I  went  to  the 
door  and  peeped  over  the  shoulder 
of  my  tall  wife.  The  two  plain, 
business-like  young  women  were 
evidently    much    distressed,    but 


12 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


! 

I] 
\\ 
il 
ii 


between  them  was  a  fair-haired 
sHp  of  a  girl  of  fifteen  or  sixteen, 
the  least  disturbed  of  the  group. 
The  three  older  women  might 
have  been  talking  in  a  foreign 
tongue,  or  of  someone  else,  so  un- 
concerned did  she  appear,  present 
danger  being  over. 

**  How  did  she  happen  to  be 
with  these  people?"  Belle  was 
asking  as  I  came  forward. 

"  The  wife  of  this  brute  of  a 
man  told  us  that  she  was  nurse- 
maid with  the  Ferguson  Family 
Concert  Company,  but  they 
dropped  her  here  in  Lake  City 
without  a  friend  or  a  cent." 

"  She  took  her  in  to  help  sell 
fruit  and  ice  cream  evenings,  and 
she  let  her  go  to  school  through 
the  day." 

At  this  juncture  the  subject 
under  discussion  broke  into  a 
beaming  smile,  showing  all  her 
fine  teeth.  Her  cheek  dimpled 
and  reddened,  and  her  blue  eyes, 
full  of  fun,   looked  straight  into 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


13 


mine.  I  became  suddenly  aware 
that  I  had  forgotten  to  remove 
the  tidy,  and  retired  in  confusion, 
tut  heard  Belle's  conclusion  of 
the  interview : 

"  Just  wait  a  second  till  I  give 
you  a  line  to  the  matron  of  the 
House  of  Refuge.  You  can  leave 
the  girl  there  till  we  see  what  can 
be  done  for  her.  She'll  be  per- 
fectly safe,  and  had  better  keep 
on  going  to  school  as  usual." 


A  week  afterward  I  asked  my 
wife  what  had  become  of  her 
latest  protig^e. 

"  You  mean  Mary  Mason  ? 
She's  in  the  refuge  yet,  attending 
school,  and  we've  settled  that 
man's  ice-cream  saloon." 

"How?" 

"  Boycotted  him.  We  can't 
reach  him  any  other  way." 

"  That's  rather  hard  on  his  wife, 
who  seems  to  be  a  decent  sort  of 
party." 

'*  The  innocent  often  appear  to 


14 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


it ''I! 


Ill 


suffer  with  and  for  the  guilty, 
but  if  you  understood  the  law  of 
Karma  you  would  know  that  all 
the  evil  that  befalls  us  is  really 
the  result  of  some  wrongdoing  of 
our  own  in  a  previous  incarnation. 
Mary  Mason  herself  is  an  in- 
stance." 

"  What's  the  matter  with  her  ?  " 

"  Poor  girl !  She's  been 
knocked  from  pillar  to  post  all 
her  days.  She  hasn't  an  idea 
who  her  parents  are,  and  there 
isn't  a  creature  in  the  world  she 
has  any  claim  upon.  She  must 
have  gone  very  far  astray  last 
time  to  have  been  brought  into 
the  world  again  with  such  dis- 
advantages." 

"  It  appears  to  me  she  has  a 
great  many  advantages — lovely 
blue  eyes,  good  teeth,  the  fashion- 
able golden  shade  of  hair,  and 
the  prettiest  complexion  I've  seen 
for  many  a  day." 

"  Don't  be  provoking,  Dave ! 
The   poor   little     thing   has    the 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


15 


marks  of  some  of  her  beatings  on 
her  yet.  The  Ferguson  family 
were  the  first  who  ever  treated  her 
decently,  or  paid  her  any  wages." 

"  Why  did  they  drop  her  ?  " 

"  One  of  our  Committee  took 
it  upon  herself  to  write  and  ask 
them.  They  replied  that  the  girl 
was  of  perfectly  good  character, 
so  far  as  they  knew,  but  she  fell 
so  ridiculously  in  love  with  Frank 
Ferguson,  their  eldest  son,  that  she 
was  making  a  nuisance  of  herself, 
and  so  they   had  to  let  her  go." 

I  laughed. 

"  There  are  generally  two  sides 
to  that  kind   of  story." 

"At  the  meeting  of  the  trustees 
to-morrow  it  is  to  be  decided 
what's  to  be  done  with  her,  because 
she  says  she  doesn't  want  to  go  to 
school  any  more.  She's  never  had 
much  of  a  chance  before  to  learn 
anything,  and  she's  in  a  class  with 
little  bits  of  girls,  and  she  doesn't 
like  it — says  she'd  rather  go  to 
work  to  earn  her  own  living." 


i6 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


Belle  came  home  from  that 
meeting  with  her  face  ablaze  with 
righteous  wrath.  Her  hands 
trembled  so  much  over  the  tea- 
cups at  our  evening  meal  th?t 
even  sixteen  year  old  Watty,  our 
eldest  son,  remarked  it. 

"  What's  the  matter  with 
mamma?     Her  trolley's  off." 

I  knew  there  was  trouble  in  the 
wind,  so  I  fortified  myself  with  a 
good  supper  and  read  my  paper  at 
the  same  time,  to  leave  myself  free 
for  what  was  to  follow.  The 
children  study  their  lessons  in  the 
back  end  of  the  nursery,  and  I 
therefore  forbore  to  take  up  my 
usual  position  upon  the  sofa,  but 
withdrew  to  the  parlor  with  my 
pipe. 

Presently  my  wife  followed  me, 
nearly  walking  over  the  furniture 
in  her  excitement. 

"  Go  on.  Belle  ;  out  with  it !  " 

**  You  will  listen,  will  you,  seri- 
ously ?  " 

"  Certainly,    mawm.      I    never 


i  :, 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


17 


had  any  sort  of  an  objection  to 
your  making  a  scavenger  barrel  of 
me,  so  go  ahead." 

"  Oh,  these  benevolent  women, 
Dave !  Any  one  of  the  malone 
is  as  good-hearted  as  can  be,  but 
lump  them  together  on  a  com- 
mittee, and  they're  as  cold  and 
cruel  and  grasping  as  the  meanest 
business  man  you  could  name!" 

"  More  so  ! "  said  I,  approv- 
ingly, and  for  once  Isabel  did  not 
resent  the  disparagement  of  her 
sex. 

"  The  question  arose,  what  was 
to  be  done  about  Mary  Mason, 
and  every  one  of  them,  David — 
every  one  of  them,  with  young 
daughters  of  their  own  growing 
up  at  home,  voted  to  let  that  girl 
go  round  this  town  selling  a 
book." 

"  Was  that  what  she  wanted  to 
do  herself?" 

"  Yes  ;  but  think  of  them  let- 
ting her  do  it !  You  know  as  well 
as  I  do  what  sort  of  a  city  this  is, 


i8 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


and  whether  it's  safe  for  a  lovely 
girl  like  that  to  go  to  men's 
offices,  trying  with  her  pretty 
looks  and  ways  to  wheedle  them 
into  subscribing  for  Stanley's 
'  Darkest  Africa.*  Oh,  I  was 
wild!     I  said  to  Mrs   ^obinson: 

*  How  would  you  lik'  your  Lulu 
to  do  it  ?  *  *  The  cases  are  very 
different,*  said  she  ;  *  my  daughter 
has  no  need  to  earn  her  living.* 

*  Mrs.  Constable,*  said  I,  *  if  your 
grandchild  were  left  alone  in  the 
world,  what  would  you  think  of 
the  charity  of  any  body  of  women 
who  allowed  her  to  go  from  under 
their  protection  to  make  her  liv- 
ing in  this  way?'  'I  don't  see 
the  connection,'  said  she ;  *  Mary 
Mason's  been  fighting  the  world 
since  she  was  seven  years  old,  and 
just  because  she  happens  to  have 
a  pretty  face,  you  seem  to  think 
she  should  be  put  in  a  glass  case 
and  never  do  anything  for  her- 
self.' ** 

"  She   had    you    there,   Belle," 


y. 

L  lovely 
)   men's 
pretty 
le  them 
tanley's 
I     was 
binson  : 
ur  Lulu 
ire  very 
laughter 
r  living.' 
'  if  your 
?  in  the 
think  of 
'  women 
m  under 
her  liv- 
on't  see 
*  Mary 
e  world 
old,  and 
to  have 
o  think 
ass  case 
or  her- 

Belle," 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


19 


said  I,  pulling  her  down  to  the 
arm  of  my  big  easy-chair.  "  Let 
the  girl  alone ;  she'll  come  out  all 
right.  She's  too  good-looking  for 
a  nurse  or  a  housemaid,  and  she 
doesn't  know  enough  arithmetic 
to  be  a  shop  girl.  I  don't  see 
what  else  she  can  do." 

"  That's  just  what  the  ladies 
calmly  decided,"  said  my  wife, 
walking  the  floor  again.  "  They 
seemed  to  think  that  a  little  busi- 
ness training  would  just  be  the 
making  of  Mary.  Oh,  these 
Christians!" 

"You  see,  my  dear,"  said  I, 
"  committees  are  not  supposed  to 
have  any  conscience.  They  have 
the  income  of  the  Refuge  in  trust 
for  the  contributors,  and  they 
have  no  right  to  keep  on  support- 
ing a  girl  who  is  willing  to  work 
for  herself.  How  she  proposes 
to  do  it  is  none  of  their  business." 

"  That's  just  what  it  is — their 
business ;  their  business  to  see 
that   she   doesn't   meet  the  very 


20 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


I!  ri ' 


f  ,i 


iiiiii 


mi  I 


!     ' 


fate  we've  saved  her  from  once 
already.  Oh  !  there's  no  getting 
these  narrow-minded,  orthodox, 
bigoted  people  to  see  more  than 
one  side  of  a  question." 

"  Take  care  you  don't  become 
dogmatic  on  your  own  side,"  said 
I,  rising  tO  knock  the  ashes  out  of 
my  pipe.  "If  it's  the  law  of 
Karma  that's  responsible  for  her 
having  been  left  to  shift  for  her- 
self at  so  early  an  age,  it's  the 
same  law  that's  after  her  now,  and 
I  wouldn't  interfere  with  its  oper- 
ations, if  I  were  you." 

*'  You  don't  in  the  least  under- 
stand what  you  are  talking  about," 
and  Belle  sailed  from  the  room 
to  settle  a  noisy  dispute  in  the 
nursery. 


.«• 


CHAPTER   II. 

HROUGH  that  winter 
I  caught  occasionally  a 
glimpse  of  Mary  Mason 
on  the  street,  but  as  I 
had  not  the  pleasure  of 
her  acquaintance,  I  did  not  stop 
to  ask  her  how  she  was  getting 
on.  My  wife  told  me,  however, 
that  she  lived  in  a  room  over  a 
store  down  town,  and  took  her 
meals  out,  and  that  she  was  suc- 
ceeding very  well  with  her  sub- 
scription list. 

"  The  girl  is  all  right,  if  only  the 
gossips  would  let  her  alone. 
Some  of  them  assert  that  she  had 
a  child  in  the  Refuge,  and  though 
the  ladies  on  our  committee  in- 
dignantly deny  that,  they  shake 


99 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


ijiip|j|i 


III  mil 


their  heads,  and  say  of  course 
they  don't  know  anything  about 
her  now." 

"  It's  the  only  excitement  a  lot 
of  these  women  have,"  said  I. 
"  They  wouldn't  read  a  French 
novel  for  the  world,  and  some  of 
thern  wouldn't  be  seen  in  a 
theater,  so  they  have  to  satisfy 
their  morbid  craving  for  sensa- 
tionalism by  hearing  and  repeat- 
ing all  sorts  of  unsavory  tales — 
and  they  do  it  in  the  name  of 
charity  !  They're  very  sorry  that 
there  is  so  much  wickedness  in 
the  world,  but  since  it  is  there, 
they  enjoy  the  investigation  of 
details,  and  it  doesn't  matter  very 
much  whether  they're  doing  any 
good  or  •"ot." 

**  There  aren't  any  details  to  in- 
vestigate, so  far  as  Mary  Mason 
is  concerned.  I  took  pains  to 
make  sure  of  that,  when  I  heard 
that  a  big  hulk  of  a  machinist, 
who  rooms  on  the  same  flat,  was 
telling  lies  about  her,  just  because 


Iff 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


23 


she   refused  to  have  anything  to 
say  to  him." 

When  I  was  leaving  the  Echo 
office  at  noon  one  day  I  saw  Hen- 
derson's handsome  black  span, 
with  the  wreck  of  a  sleigh  behind 
them,  come  down  the  street  at  a 
full  gallop,  and  I  was  just  debat- 
ing with  myself  whether  my  duty 
as  a  citizen,  which  called  me  to 
attempt  to  stop  the  brutes,  was 
stronger  than  my  duty  to  my  wife 
and  family,  which  bade  me  stay 
where  I  was,  when  a  young  lady 
jumped  the  snow  ridge  at  the 
edge  of  the  sidewalk  and  flung 
herself  at  the  bit  of  the  nearest 
horse.  The  powerful  animal 
swung  her  right  off  her  feet,  but 
he  was  checked  for  an  instant, 
and  in  that  instant  a  young 
man  seized  the  mate  on  the 
other  side  ;  the  team  was  stopped 
and  surrounded  by  a  crowd  di- 
rectly. Then  I  saw  it  was  Mary 
Mason  who  was  the  heroine  of  the 
drama.     She   withdrew   from  the 


24 


THE   MAKING    OF    MARY. 


ill 


!    f 


i    i 


throng,  straightened  her  flat  hat 
above  her  rosy  face,  and  walked 
off  with  her  habitual  indifferent 
air. 

"  She's  got  good  grit,  that  girl," 
said  I  to  myself,  but  I  thought  no 
more  about  her  till  I  came  heme 
on  a  certain  evening  in  March,  and 
found  her  comfortably  ensconced 
on  one  side  of  our  nursery  fire, 
while  my  mother  from  the  other 
side  cast  suspicious  glances  at 
her  over  her  spectacles.  "  Miss 
Mason,"  had  supper  with  us,  and 
then  I  retired  to  my  big  leather- 
covered  spring  rocker  in  the 
parlor  to  await  developments. 
That  chair  needs  to  be  approached 
with  deference,  for  it  has  a  pre- 
cocious trick  of  either  tilting  in 
the  air  the  feet  of  any  unwary 
occupant,  ot  of  tipping  him  out 
on  the  floor.  I  know  its  disposi- 
tion, can  preserve  my  proper  bal- 
ance, and  have  never  been  flung 
either  forward  or  backward — ex- 
cept once  each  way. 


''"lip 

■':ii 


RY. 

flat  hat 
1  walked 
[different 

lat  girl," 
Dught  no 
le  heme 
irch,  and 
isconced 
>ery  fire, 
he  other 
inces    at 
"  Miss 
[  us,  and 
leather- 
in     the 
)pments. 
)roached 
s   a  pre- 
ilting  in 
unwary 
him  out 
disposi- 
Dper  bal- 
m    flung 
ard — ex- 


THE   MAKING    OF    MARY. 


25 


Presently  Belle  followed  me, 
'*  loaded  up,"  as  the  boys  say. 

"  It  seems  as  if  I  was  never  to 
get  free  from  the  responsibility  of 
that  child." 

"What's  up  now  ?  " 

"  Down  town  to-day  I  met  the 
chief  of  police " 

"  Great  chum  of  yours  !  " 

"  Yes,  indeed.  We've  had  con- 
siderable conversation  at  different 
times  about  some  of  my  cases. 
To-day  he  said,  *  You're  interested 
in  that  young  girl,  Mary  Mason, 
aint  you,  Mrs.  Gemmell  ?  *  '  Yes,' 
said  I,  though  my  heart  sank,  and 
I  didn't  see  why  he  couldn't  have 
addressed  any  other  one  of  the 
committee  ;  *  anything  wrongwith 
her?'  *  Not  yet,'  said  he;  'but 
there  will  be  pretty  soon  if  some- 
body doesn't  look  after  her. 
There's  a  scheme  on  foot  to  take 
her  off  to  Chicago — to  sell  a  book 
— so  they  say.'  '  Good  gracious  ! 
Nobody  would  dare  ! '  '  Wouldn't 
they,  though  ?  '  said  he.     '  There's 


26 


THE   MAKING    OF    MARY. 


lilllill 


!l!i;! 


m 

!  I 

lliii 


1 1 


ii! 


a  well-known  drummer  in  this 
town  at  the  bottom  of  it.  He's 
aware  the  girl  has  no  friends,  and 
in  Chicago  she  don't  even  know  a 
soul.  It's  too  bad,  for  I've  had 
my  eye  on  the  young  woman  all 
winter,  and  she's  kept  perfectly 
straight.* 

**  You  may  think,  Dave,  that  I 
ought  to  be  hardened  to  horrors 
by  this  time,  but  I  became  fairly 
dazed  as  the  chief  of  police  went 
on  to  say,  *  I  can't  move  in  the 
matter.  We  never  can  touch  these 
things  until  the  mischief  is  done  ; 
but  if  you  like  to  make  inquiries, 
you'll  find  out  that  I've  been  tell- 
ing you  the  truth.* 

"  When  he  left  me,  I  turned  to 
come  home,  not  knowing  what  to 
do,  but  going  round  the  first 
corner,  didn't  I  run  right  into 
Mary  Mason  herself !  I  hadn't 
laid  eyes  on  her  for  a  couple  of 
months.  *  How  d'ye  do,  Mrs. 
Gemmell  ? '  she  said,  for  I  stopped 
and  stared  at  her  as  if  she'd  been 


THE   MAKING    OF    MARV, 


27 


a  white  crow.  *  What  about 
"Darkest  Africa?"'  I  found 
breath  to  ask,  though  it  was 
Darkest  Chicago  I  had  in  my 
mind.  *  I've  done  with  that  now,' 
she  said  ;  *  did  very  well,  too.' 
'  And  what  are  you  going  to 
do  next  ?  '  *  I  dunno.  Whatever 
turns  up.  I've  got  an  offer  to  go 
to  Chicago  to  sell  a  book  there.' 
I  caught  her  by  the  arm  as  if  I'd 
been  the  chief  of  police.  *  Mary, 
will  you  please  go  to  my  house 
and  wait  there  for  me  till  I  come  ? ' 
*  Oh,  yes,  mawm,  if  you  want  me 
to,*  and  off  she  went,  asking  no 
questions. 

**  Well,  Dave,  I've  put  in  four 
hours  of  amateur  detective  work 
this  afternoon,  and  I  feel  as  if  I 
needed  a  moral  bath.  I  found 
out  it  was  all  true,  as  the  chief  of 
police  had  said.  There  was  a 
plot  to  ruin  the  girl,  and  I  don't 
think  the  author  of  it  will  forget 
his  interview  with  me  in  a  hurry." 

"What  good  will  that  do  the 


m''^ 


hi  :  ii!; 


!i  i 


!; 


iili ' 

hi  ' 


23 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


young  woman  ?  There  are  plenty 
more  of  his  kind  in  the  world,  and 
with  her  inherited  tendencies  I 
suppose  it's  only  a  question  of 
time — how  soon  she  goes  to  the 
bad." 

"  David  Gemmel !  " 

It  is  worth  while  making  a 
caustic  speech  occasionally  to  see 
Isabel  rise  to  he  full  height. 
Her  brown  eyes  positively  emit 
sparks,  and  her  gray  hair,  which 
she  wears  waved  and  parted,  gives 
her  an  air  of  distinction  that 
would  not  be  out  of  place  upon 
an  avenging  spirit. 

"  I  came  home  ail  tired  out," 
she  went  on,  sinking  into  the 
chair  beside  mine,  "  and  looking 
through  the  nursery  window, 
there  sat  Mary  Mason  with  our 
little  Chrissie  on  her  knee.  The 
two  faces  in  the  firelight  looked 
so  much  alike  that  my  heart  gave 
a  great  thump,  and  I  vowed  that 
girl  should  never  be  set  adrift 
again.     This  is  the  second  time 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


29 


she  has  been  cast  upon  my  shore, 
and  I  must  see  to  her." 

So  Mary  Mason  dropped  into 
our  family  circle  without  anybody 
having  very  much  to  say  in  the 
matter — except  my  mother! 

'*  Wha's  yon  'at  Eesabell's  ta'en 
up  \vi'  the  noo?" 

*'  Her  name's  Mason,"  said  I ; 
"  Mary  Mason." 

**  I  h'ard  yer  wife  was  thinkin' 
o*  keepin'  a  hoosemaid,  but  I 
didna  expeck  tae  see  her  pap  her- 
sel'  doon  at  the  table  wi'  the 
fem'ly." 

"  She's  not  a  housemaid.  She's 
just  staying  with  us  for  a  while." 

"  Ye'd  think  Eesabell  micht 
hae  eneugh  adae  wi'  her  ain, 
'thoot  takin'  in  ony  strangers." 

"  But  Mary  is  to  help  with  the 
housework,  in  return  for  her 
board  and  clothes." 

"  Let  her  wear  a  kep  an'  apron, 
then,  an'  eat  wi'  Marg'et." 

"  Margaret  might  object,"  and 
I  laughed  at  the  probable  dismay 


30 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


of  our  stalwart,  rough-and-ready 
five-foot-tenner,  should  this  lady- 
fied  blonde  permanently  invade 
her  domain. 

"  Hoo  lang's  she  gaun  to  st*y  ?" 

"Tnat's  more  than  I  can  tell 
you." 

When  Mary  had  been  a  week 
in  the  house,  it  became  apparent 
that  something  must  be  done 
with  her. 

"  She's  bound  she'll  not  go 
back  to  the  public  school,  Dave, 
and  yet  she  cannot  read  or  write. 
Do  you  think  we  can  afford  to 
send  her  to  boarding-school — to  a 
convent,  for  instance,  where  she'd 
be  well  looked  after,  and  allow- 
ances   made    for   her    backward- 

Belle  and  I  were  out  driving 
together.  It  was  the  first  spring- 
like evening  we  had  had,  and  I 
was  trying  Jim  Atwood's  new 
mare  on  Maple  Avenue,  which 
had  been  newly  block-paved.  So 
engrossed  was  I  in  watching  her 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


31 


paces  I  did  not  reply  to  my  wife 
at  once,  and  she  continued  : 

"  You  were  going  to  get  me  a 
horse  and  a  victoria  this  spring, 
but  I'm  wilHng  to  give  them  up 
to  send  Mary  to  school." 

'*  Please  yourself,  my  dear. 
You  would  be  the  one  to  use  the 
turnout.  I'm  content  to  borrow 
from  my  friends.  Isn't  she  a 
beauty?" 

Belle  came  out  of  space  to 
answ^er  me. 

"  Yes,  just  now  ;  but  she'll  not 
be  when  she's  old.  Her  features 
are  not  good  at  all ;  her  'ore- 
head's  too  narrow,  and  her  nose 
too  broad.  Were  it  not  for  her 
lovely  hair  and  complexion,  she'd 
have  nothing  to  brag  about  but 
a  pair  of  very  ordinary  blue  eyes." 

"Who?    The  mare?" 

"  Don't  be  stupid,  Dave,  and 
do  attend  to  what  I  am  saying. 
I  hardly  ever  have  a  chance  to 
speak  to  you,  goodness  knows !  " 

"  You    get    the    editorial    ear 


32 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


oftener  and  longer  than  anybody 
else." 

"  Lend  it  to  me  now,  then. 
Don't  you  think  a  convent  would 
be  the  best  place  for  Mary  ?" 

**  Perhaps  —  as  there  are  no 
theosophical  educational  institu- 
tions that  we  know  about." 

''  Mary  isn't  far  enough  oi^  for 
theosophist  yet.  She'll  have  to 
come  back  many  times  before  she 
is.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church 
is  on  her  plane  this  incarnation." 

"  It  does  seem  to  catch  the 
masses,  that's  a  fact,  whereas 
your  theosophy  doesn't  appear 
to  be  practicable  for  uneducated 
people  nor  for  children." 

"  I  don't  agree  with  you  there." 

"  Then  why  were  you  so  anxious 
to  send  Watty  to  a  church  school 
to  finish  his  education,  and  why 
are  you  on  the  lookout  already 
for  a  boarding-school  for  the  two 
girls  where  they  w^ill  have  the 
best  of  Christian  influences  ? 
What   is    your   object    in    being 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


33 


SO  particular  that  the  younger 
boys  are  regular  in  their  attend- 
ance at  our  surpliced   choir?" 

"  It  gives  them  a  good  idea  of 
music — but  that  is  not  the  point 
just  now.  Can  we  afford  to  send 
Mary  Mason  to  a  convent,  or  can 
we  not  ?" 

*' Choose  between  h^^  and  the 
buggy  mare  *  suitabl  lor  a  lady 
to  drive,'  "  said  I ;  but  in  reality 
it  was  my  mother  who  settled  the 
question. 

When  we  came  home  that 
evening  she  was  sitting  by  the 
fireside, 

"  Nursin*  her  wrath  to  keep  it  warm." 

"Ye  maun  either  pit  yon  hizzy 
oot  the  hoose,  or  I'll  hitta  gang." 

"  What's  the  matter  now, 
mother?" 

"  I  teirt  her  to  brush  the  boys* 
bits  tae  be  ready  for  the  schule  in 
the  mornin*.  They  were  thrang 
wi'  their  lessons  an'  she  wasna 
daein'  a  han's  turn." 


34 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


"And  what  did  she  say?" 

**  S'y !  I  wush  ye'd  seen  the 
leuk  she  gi'ed  me!" 

*'  The  boys  can  brush  their  ain 
bits,"  said  she ;  "  I'm  no*  their 
servant." 

I  laughed. 

**  It's  well  seen  she  hasn't  been 
brought  up  in  Scotland,  or  she 
would  know  it  was  the  bounden 
duty  of  the  girls  in  the  house  to 
wait  on  the  boys." 

"  An'  a  hantle  better  it  is  than 
to  see  the  laddies  aye  rinnin*  efter 
the  lasses,  tendin'  them  han'  an* 
fut  as  they  dae  here.  When  a 
man  comes  hame  efter  his  d'y's 
wark,  he  should  be  let  sit  on  his 
sate,  an'  hae  a'  things  dune  for 
him." 

"  David,"  said  Belle,  sinking  to 
a  footstool  at  my  feet  with  a 
dramatic  gesture,  "  you  shall 
never  button  my  boots  again ! 
But  seriously,"  she  continued,  as 
mother  withdrew  in  high  dudgeon 
to  her  sanctum  upstairs,  "  I  don't 


THi:    MAKINO    OF    MARY. 


35 


think  Mary  should  be  expected 
to  brush  the  boys'  boots.  We 
didn't  engage  her  as  servant,  and 
even  if  we  had,  there  isn't  a  hired 
girl  in  this  part  of  the  country 
that  wouldn't  make  a  fuss  if  she 
had  to  brush  the  boots  of  the 
man  of  the  house,  not  to  mention 
the  boys.  We'll  have  to  pack 
Mary  off  somewhere,  if  only  to 
keep  the  peace." 

So  Mary  was  sent  to  a  convent, 
and  at  the  end  of  three  months 
came  back  for  her  holidays  to 
our  summer  cottage  at  Interlaken. 
Being  so  near  the  big  lake  does 
not  agree  with  my  mother,  and 
she  rarely  spends  more  than  a 
week  with  us  there,  but  during 
July  and  August  visits  my  mar- 
ried sister  in  town.  The  coast 
was  clear  for  Belle  and  me  to  de- 
cide what  progress  had  been  made 
in  the  making  o^  Mary,  and  we 
fancied  we  discovered  a  good  deal. 

"  What  have  they  done  to  you, 
those  nuns,  to  tone  you  down  so 


36 


THK    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


quickly,  Mary?**  I  asked,  as  she 
sat  beside  me,  swinging  in  a  low 
rocker,  and  looking  so  pretty  that 
I  was  quite  proud  of  her  as  an 
ornament  to  our  front  veranda. 

"  I  dunno,"  she  said,  **  unless  it 
was  the  exercise  for  sitting  pet- 
fectly  still  on  a  row  of  chairs.  A 
nun  goes  behind  us  and  drops  a 
big  book  or  something,  and  any 
girl  that  jumps  gets  a  bad  mark." 

"Capital!"!  cried;  "no  won- 
der you  have  learned  repose  of 
manner." 

Thus  encouraged,  the  girl  con- 
tinued: 

"Then  we  have  little  parties 
and  receptions,  and  we  have  to 
converse  with  the  nuns  and  with 
each  other,  and  anybody  that 
mentions  one  of*  the  three  D's 
gets  a  bad  mark." 

"The  three  D's?" 

"  Yes,  sir — Dress,  Disease,  and 
Domestics." 

"  Hear  this,  Belle,"  I  said,  laugh- 
ing, as  my  wife  took  the  rocking 


THE    MAKINC;    OK    MARY. 


37 


chair  on  the  other  side  of  me ; 
*'  fancy  any  collection  of  women 
being  oblij^ccl  to  steer  clear  of  the 
three  D's !  " 

'•  Voii  should  ask  Mary  about 
her  studies,"  was  the  severe  reply. 
**  We  were  much  pleased  with 
your  letters." 

"  Yes,  mawni ;  Sister  Stella  was 
always  very  good  about  that  ; 
helped  me  with  the  big  words, 
and  often  wrote  the  whole  thing 
out  for  me.  Sometimes  I  had  to 
copy  it  tr  o  or  three  times  before 
I  could  please  her." 

Belle  hastily  changed  the  sub- 
ject. "  Let  Mr.  Gemmell  hear 
that  piece  you  recited  to  me  this 
morning." 

I  am  no  judge  of  elocution,  but 
the  general  effect  of  the  young 
girl  standing  there  in  the  arch  of 
the  veranda,  a  clematis-wreathed 
post  on  either  side,  and  her  face, 
with  its  delicate  coloring,  turned 
toward  the  golden  twilight,  was 
pleasing  in  the  extreme. 


;  i^«i  -^t0m  I   rmmmm 


I 


38 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY, 


"  She'll  maybe  be  famous  some 
day,"  said  Belle,  when  Mary  had 
discreetly  retired.  "  She  is  far 
quicker  at  learning  verses  off  by 
heart  than  she  is  at  reading 
them." 

"  Still,  to  be  a  successful  elocu- 
tionist nowadays  one  has  to  be 
thoroughly  well  educated,  and 
Mary  is  too  late  in  beginning." 

"You  can't  tell.  She's  got  the 
appearance,  and  that  3  half  the 
battle." 

**  With  us,  perhaps ;  but  re- 
member, we  are  not  capable  crit- 
ics, even  though  one  of  us  is  a 
Theosophist." 

"  Laugh  as  you  like,  Dave. 
Theosophy  satisfies  me,  because 
it  explains  some  things  in  my 
own  nature  that  I  never  could  un- 
derstand before." 

**  It  may  be  that  you  are  too 
soon  satisfied.  That's  the  way 
with  all  new  movements — one 
story  is  good  till  another  is  told. 
Your     great-granddaughter     will 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


39 


smile  at  the  credulity  of  your 
ideas  on  this  very  subject." 

"  She  can  smile,  and  so  can  you. 
We  don't  pretend  to  know  every- 
thing ;  we  only  hope  that  we  are 
on  the  right  road  to  learn.  I,  for 
one,  am  thankful  to  think  that 
there  are  wiser  heads  than  mine 
puzzling  over  the  problem  of  our 
psychic  powers.  I've  always 
taken  impressions  from  inanimate 
objects,  and  it  has  bothered  me. 
Now  I  find  my  sensations  analyzed 
and  classified  under  the  head  of 
Psychometry,  and  it  is  a  comfort 
to  know  that  other  people  besides 
myself  can  discern  an  aurUy  and 
are  foolishly  wise  enough  to  trust 
the  impressions  they  receive  in 
that  way." 

"  But  if  I  were  you,  I  don't 
think  I'd  make  a  parlor  entertain- 
ment out  of  the  gift, — if  it  is  a 
gift, — as  I  heard  you  did  at  the 
Wades'  the  other  night." 

"  Who  told  you  ?  What  have 
you  heard  ?" 


i 


If 
« 


■'  -ijrrf^ 


Mi: 


miJMiill 


I   I 


!  I 


9     '   ' 


., 


40 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


"  Newspaper  men  hear  every- 
thing. You  asked  Mr.  Saxon  to 
hold  his  handkerchief  pressed 
tightly  in  his  hand  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  then  to  give  it  to 
you.  You  shut  your  eyes  as  you 
held  it,  and  received  the  impres- 
sion of  his  *  aura,'  or  the  atmos- 
phere which  surrounds  him,  or 
whatever  you  like  to  call  it,  and 
then  the  company  asked  you 
questions,  and  you  gave  him  a 
great  old  character.  He  didn't 
like  it  a  bit,  nor  did  his  wife,  nor 
his  mother-in-law.  You'll  make 
enemies  for  yourself  if  you  don't 
watch  out." 

"  It  was  wrong  of  me  to  exer- 
cise my  powers  just  to  gratify  idle 
curiosity.  No  good  Theosophist 
would  approve  of  it." 

**  Say,  rather,  *  no  sensible  per- 
son would.*  The  Theosophists 
haven't  a  monopoly  of  common 
sense.  To  me  they  appear 
slightly  deficient   in  that  article. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


41 


but  I  dare  say  they  make  up  for  it 
in  uncommon  sense." 

**  You  speak  more  wisely  than 
you  know,"  said  Belle  solemnly. 
**  If  I  hadn't  taken  in  some  of  the 
Brotherhood  ideas  I  wonder  where 
that  pretty,  innocent,  young  girl 
would  have  been  by  this  time. 
Would  you  like  me  to  go  back  and 
be  as  I  was  in  the  old  days,  a  rank 
materialist,  caring  for  nothing  but 
dress,  dancing,  and  having  a  good 
time  ?  You  know  you  wouldn't, 
David.  You  know  as  well  as  I  do 
that  Theosophy  has  been  the 
making  of  me,  and  through  me  it 
shall  be  the  making  of  Mary  too." 


3 
H 


t 


1 


\m 


4 


m 


CHAPTER  III. 

O  the  Scotchman  or 
Englishman,  with  Loch 
Katrine  or  Windermere 
in  his  fond  memory's 
eye,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  great  lakes  of  America 
seem  howling  wildernesses  of  wa- 
ter, for  the  shores  are  mostly  low 
and  unpicturesque.  There  is  no 
changing  tide  to  give  variety,  no 
strong  smell  of  seaweed  nor  salt 
breeze  to  brace  the  wearied 
nerves,  but  the  wearied  nerves  are 
braced  nevertheless.  The  sand  is 
soft  and  clean  to  extend  one's 
length  upon,  and  the  waves  for- 
ever rolling  up  at  one's  feet  are 
soothing  in  their  monotony. 
There  is  no  fear  of  the  encroach- 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


43 


man  or 
th  Loch 
idermere 
lemory's 
urp  rising 
America 
ss  of  wa- 
)stly  low 
re  is  no 
riety,  no 
nor  salt 
wearied 
irves  are 
e  sand  is 
id  one's 
ives  for- 
feet  are 
)notony. 
ncroach- 


ment  of  the  water,  no  fear  of  its 
leaving  a  bare  mud-flat  for  nearly 
a  mile ;  and  the  unlimited  ex- 
panse of  blue  which  meets  the 
horizon  satisfies  the  eye,  which 
cares  not  if  the  land  on  the  other 
side  be  hundreds  or  thousands  of 
miles  away,  so  long  as  it  be  out  of 
sight. 

Two  young  people  one  evening 
in  July  seemed  to  find  Lake 
Michigan  perfectly  satisfactory  in 
every  respect.  The  girl  sat  on  a 
log  of  driftwood,  poking  holes  in 
the  sand  with  the  pointed  toes  of 
her  shoes,  much  too  fine  for  the 
purpose,  while  the  young  man 
stretched  at  her  feet  looked  at  her 
instead  of  the  sunset  they  had 
come  to  admire.  I  could  not 
help  thinking  what  a  pretty  pic- 
ture they  made,  as  I  strolled  along 
the  shore  with  my  pipe,  to  get 
cooled  off  after  a  very  hot  day  in 
town. 

The  family  were  all  at  Inter- 
laken,  but   Margaret   was  left  in 


9 


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44 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


M 


ifiii 


''  ';Sii 


ll 


Lake  City  to  keep  the  grass 
watered,  and  to  give  me  my  mid- 
day dinner.  I  am  unable  to  de- 
cide which  occupation  she  consid- 
ered the  more  important.  It  is 
not  easy  to  get  grass  to  grow  with 
us,  and  anyone  who  can  display 
a  reasonably  green  patch  in  July 
and  August  gives  evidence  of  con- 
siderable perseverance  in  the 
matter  of  lawn  sprinkling.  I  told 
Margaret  she  would  be  ready  to 
enter  the  Fire  Brigade  next  winter, 
she  was  getting  to  be  such  an  ex- 
pert with  the  hose.  But  to  return 
to  the  shore  of  Michigan. 

The  pair  of  lovers  interested 
me  so  much  that  I  gradually 
edged  nearer  to  them.  The  spe- 
cies seldom  objects  to  the  proxim- 
ity of  a  stout  little  man  with  a 
prosaic  pipe  in  his  mouth  and  a 
pair  of  light  blue  eyes,  handi- 
capped by  spectacles,  that  seem 
always  to  be  looking  for  a  sail  on 
the  horizon.  In  fact,  I  never 
attract   any  attention    anywhere, 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


45 


unless  my  wife  is  along,  and  the^' 
I  am  only  too  proud  and  happy  to 
shine  in  her  l  .flection. 

So  I  sat  down  on  a  piece  of 
stump,  worn  white  and  smooth 
like  a  skeleton  before  being  cast 
up  by  the  waves ;  but  when  the 
two  caught  sight  of  me,  the  man 
sprang  up  and  came  toward  me, 
holding  out  his  hand,  while  the 
girl  sauntered  off  in  the  other 
direction,  and  I  saw  that  she  was 
Mary  Mason. 

"  Hello,  Link  ?  "  said  I  to  the 
young  fellow.  "  Didn't  know  you 
were  down  here." 

"  I'm  at  the  hotel  for  a  week  or 
two.  I've  just  been  making  the 
acquaintance  of  your  adopted 
daughter." 

"My  what?" 

"  You  have  adopted  her,  haven't 
you?" 

*'  Don't  know  that  I  have — 
hadn't  considered  the  matter  at 
all." 

"  She's    a    sweet    girl,    and    a 


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» 1 


46 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


beauty   too.     Anyone    would   be 
proud  to  own  her." 

**  You'd  better  let  Dolly  Martin 
hear  you  say  that." 

Abraham  Lincoln  Todd  straight- 
ened himself  up  in  the  most  inde- 
pendent bachelor  style. 

**  She  can  look  after  me  when 
we're  married,  but  in  the  mean- 
time I'm  a  free  man." 

He  is  considered  very  handsome, 
tall  and  dark,  a  good  business  man 
too,  and  Belle  had  quite  approved 
of  the  engagement  between  him 
and  Dolly  Martin,  who,  though 
not  a  pretty  girl,  was  strong  and 
sensible,  and  the  daughter  of  one 
of  her  oldest  friends. 

Lincoln  must  be  taking  advan- 
tage of  his  intimacy  with  our 
family  to  flirt  with  Mary  Mason. 

Interlaken  is  not  a  fashionable 
resort.  Even  the  hotel  is  a 
homely  abode,  which  the  guests 
seem  to  run  themselves,  though 
they  generally  prefer  to  live  out- 
doors and  go  inside  only  for  meals 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


47 


and  beds.  Once  in  a  while,  on  a 
chilly  evening,  the  young  people 
get  up  a  dance,  and  some  of  us 
older  folks  are  dragged  into  it  too. 

Scotchmen  love  to  dance,  and  I 
am  no  exception.  I  am  not  up 
to  waltzing  or  any  of  the  new- 
fangled round  dances,  but  give 
me  a  Highland  schottische,  or  a 
square  dance,  when  there  is  an  in- 
ventive genius  to  call  off  the 
figures  and  prescribe  plenty  of 
variety.  There  was  no  profes- 
sional caller-off  at  Interlaken,  but 
Lincoln  Todd  did  duty  for  one  as 
he  danced.  When  he  tired  of  it, 
and  led  off  into  a  round  of  waltzes, 
ripples,  jerseys,  bon  tons,  rush 
polkas,  and  goodness  knows  what 
besides,  I  remained  as  a  wall- 
flower. 

The  reason  that  I  sat  there  was 
that  I  could  not  take  my  eyes  off 
Mary  Mason.  Where  she  learned 
to  dance  I  know  not,  but  dance 
she  did,  with  a  grace  and  abandon 
that  made  every  other  girl  in  the 


4S 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


I 


I 


'I 
1'  t 


room  a  clod-hopper.  Lincoln 
Todd  was  quite  infatuated  with 
her. 

Ours  is  one  of  the  dozen  or  so 
of  cottages  that  radiate  from  the 
big  hotel.  Most  of  the  cottagers 
take  dinner  and  supper  at  the 
hotel,  being,  like  ourselves,  in  a 
servantless  condition.  Belle  said 
she  could  get  along  perfectly  well 
without  Margaret,  when  she  had 
Mary  Mason  to  help  her  with  the 
housework,  and,  indeed,  there  was 
not  much  to  be  done.  The  four 
bedrooms  open  into  one  central 
room  that  we  call  the  sitting- 
room,  but  it  is  only  in  wet  weather 
it  justifies  the  name,  for,  as  a  rule, 
we  sit  in  rockers  or  swing  in  ham- 
mocks on  the  broad  veranda  that 
runs  round  three  sides  of  the 
house.  The  cottage,  lie  so  close 
together  that  a  good  jumper  can 
easily  spring  from  one  veranda  to 
the  next,  and  the  lady  propri- 
etors gossip  across,  and  the  men 
too  when  they  come  down  from 


THE    MAKINC;    OF    MARY. 


49 


business  every  evening,  or  from 
Saturday  till  Monday.  My  lot  is 
generally  the  shorter  allowance, 
and  one  Sunday  afternoon  I  lay 
in  my  favorite  hammock  on  the 
north  side  of  the  veranda,  sleep- 
ing the  sleep  of  the  brain-tired 
editor,  till  voices  roused  me. 

"  Mary,  where  did  you  get  that 
new  tennis  racket  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Todd  gc^ve  it  to  me." 

"  Haven't  I  toid  yci  distinctly 
that  you  were  not  even  to  take 
candy  from  Mr.  Todd?" 

"  He  gives  things  to  you  and 
Chrissie." 

*•  That's  a  very  different  matter. 
Chrissie  is  a  child,  and  he  is  an 
old  friend  of  the  family." 

"  I  can't  help  it  if  he  likes  to 
give  me  presents." 

"  You  can  help  taking  them, 
especially  from  an  engaged  man." 

"  I  don't  care  if  he  is  engaged. 
He  says  he  don't  care  anything 
at  all  about  Miss  Martin.  He 
only  went  after  her  for  her  money. 


i 


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If 


II 


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so 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


1  !!*' 


He  likes  me  best,  and  he  says  he'll 
never  marry  her." 

"  Mary  !  I  should  think  you'd 
know  better  than  to  make  your- 
self so  cheap.  You  give  Mr.  Todd 
back  that  racket  right  away,  and 
tell  him  Mrs.  Gemmell  said  you 
were  not  to  keep  it,  and  the  next 
time  he  brings  you  down  flowers 
or  chocolates  you  do  the  same." 

If  I  had  not  known  the  sex  and 
the  approximate  age  of  Mary, 
I  should  have  thought  it  was  a 
small  boy  in  a  temper  who  stamped 
off  the  veranda. 

The  next  Saturday  night  the 
full  moon  was  assisted  in  her 
duties  by  a  large  bonfire  down  on 
our  beach.  The  Adamless  Eden, 
having  received  its  "  week-end  " 
male  contingent,  was  stimulated 
to  a  corn-roasting.  The  green 
ears,  stuck  on  the  ends  of  long 
sticks,  were  held  by  girls  and  men 
over  the  fire  till  roasted,  and  then 
passed  on  to  a  row  of  matrons, 
disguised   in    large    aprons,   who 


TMF,    MAKINf.    oK    MARV. 


SI 


salted  and  buttered  them  ready 
for  eating.  Ifyou  kiunv anything 
that  tastes  sweeter  than  a  freshly 
roasted  and  buttered  ear  of  Indian 
corn,  your  experience  is  broader 
than  mine. 

Using  my  eyes  habitually  in 
the  way  of  business,  I  could  not 
avoid  noticing  that  Lincoln  Todd 
was  not  collecting  his  share  of 
driftwood  for  keeping  up  the  fire, 
nor  did  I  see  Mary  Mason's  pretty 
face  in  the  garland  of  beauties 
bending  with  eager  interest  over 
the  poles  bayoneted  with  cobs  of 
corn.  It  may  have  been  fear  of 
spoiling  her  complexion  that 
kept  her  at  one  side  whispering 
with  Link,  but  it  served  them 
both  right  that  Dolly  Martin 
should  choose  that  very  moment 
for  her  stage  entrance.  She  and 
her  irother  joined  the  group  of 
butterers,  and  I  noticed  that  Mrs. 
Martin  returned  Belle's  cordial 
greeting  rather  stiffly.  Then 
Miss  Dolly  calmly  walked  over  to 


i 


3 

i 


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111^ 


hlllini' 


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il    i 


f»l)l 


52 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


the  pair  sitting;  apart,  having  evi- 
dently recognized  the  back  of 
Lincoln's  blazer.  She  pretended 
to  stumble  over  one  of  his  feet. 

"  Oh,  excuse  me  !  "  said  she  ; 
and  when  Link  sprang  up,  Mary 
Mason  had  the  pleasure  of  witness- 
ing the  warmest  sort  of  a  meet- 
ing between  the  engaged  lovers. 
They  sallied  off  in  the  moonlight, 
his  arm  around  her  waist. 

No  one  but  me  noticed  the 
young  girl  slipping  down  on  the 
sand,  and  laying  her  head  on  the 
log  on  which  she  had  been  sitting, 
and  even  I  pretended  not  to  see 
that  her  handkerchief  was  in 
action. 

"Hello,  Mary!"  said  I,  "I'll 
match  you  skipping  stones.  Look 
at  this  !  " 

With  that  I  sent  a  beautiful  flat 
one  skimming  along  with  nearly  a 
dozen  hops  in  the  brilliant  track 
of  the  moon  on  the  water.  She 
did  not  pay  any  attention  to  me 
at  first,  and  I  kept  skipping  away, 


\RY. 

aving  evi- 
:  back  of 
pretended 
liis  feet, 
said  she  ; 
up,  Mary 
of  witness- 
ff  a  meet- 
^ed  lovers. 
Tioonlight, 
;t. 

(ticed  the 
vvn  on  the 
:ad  on  the 
sen  sitting, 
not  to  see 
f    was    in 

d   I,  "I'll 
es.     Look 

autiful  flat 
;h  nearly  a 
iant  track 
ater.  She 
:ion  to  me 
ping  away, 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


53 


just  as  if  I  did  not  see  her  mop- 
ping her  eyes.  By-and-by  a  stroke 
worthy  of  myself  sent  a  pebble 
spinning  through  the  ripples,  and 
Mary's  ready  laugh  rang  out  beside 
me.  Within  twenty  minutes  of 
Dolly  Martin's  appearance  on  the 
scene,  "  Mamie  "  was  the  center 
of  the  corn-roasters,  and  the  gayest 
of  the  gay.  Belle  told  me  she 
kept  on  that  line  of  conduct  during 
the  whole  week  that  Miss  Martin 
and  her  mother  stayed  at  the 
hotel. 

"  It  seemed  to  me  that  Dolly 
took  a  special  pleasure  in  parading 
her  happiness  before  poor  Mary, 
but  Mary  never  showed  the  white 
feather." 

"  There's  the  making  of  a  fine 
woman  in  her." 

'*  That  may  be,"  said  my  wife. 
"  But  this  last  week  she  has  been 
extremely  wearing  on  me.  Hav- 
ing no  particular  man  on  the 
string,  she  has  followed  me  about 
like   a   spaniel,  wanted    to   know 


3 

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ml  I 

•I 
4 


■Illi 


,i,L 


54 


THr.    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


what  Vm  reading,  and  has  begun 
a  book  the  minute  I'm  through 
with  it." 

"  I've  seen  her  carrying  *  The 
Coming  Race'  about  with  her 
lately,  but  I  notice  that  the  book- 
mark always  stays  in  the  same 
place." 

Mary  became  fond  of  solitary 
rambles  back  in  the  pine  woods, 
intersected  by  plank  walks  that 
made  promenading  possible. 
People  liked  to  wander  through 
there  in  the  evenings,  when  the 
camp-lights  in  the  hollows  lent  a 
mysterious  charm,  and  on  up  to 
the  big  Knight  Templar's  Build- 
ing, erected  on  the  highest  point 
of  the  sandy  bluff  overlooking 
Lake  Michigan.  Every  night 
that  prominent  structure  blazed 
with  electric  lights,  and  sometimes 
a  band  played  on  the  veranda; 
but  the  only  visitors  were  cot- 
tagers and  guests  from  the  hotel, 
who  went  up  there  to  walk  about 
and  enjoy  the  prospect. 


THE   MAKING    OF    MARY. 


55 


Our  city  editor  often  surprises 
me  with  the  depth  and  breadth  of 
his  local  information.  For  ex- 
ample, I  opened  the  Echo  one 
day  to  be  made  aware  that  ''  Miss 
Mamie  Gemmell  "  had  outstripped 
all  the  lady  bicyclists  in  town  by 
making  the  distance  between  Lake 
City  and  Interlaken  in  forty-seven 
minutes.  It  was  also  remarked 
that  she  was  one  of  the  most 
graceful  lady  riders  on  the  road. 

I  wonder  how  many  generations 
a  man  must  be  removed  from 
Scotland  before  he  becomes  cal- 
lous to  the  disposition  of  the 
family  name.  I  own  that  I 
squirmed  inwardly,  but  with  out- 
ward corriposure  asked  Belle 
where  Mary  got  the  "  bike." 

"  Watty's  old  one.  He  taught 
Mary  to  ride  it,  and  then  made 
her  a  present  of  it,  for  he's  set  his 
heart  on  a  new  wheel." 

"'  Confoundedly  generous  of 
him!" 

"  I'm  glad  you  look  at  it  that 


5 

i 


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'"'11 
m 

1 


1 1 


ii  ! 


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■0 


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56 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


way.  It  is  so  seldom  that  he 
does  give  up  anything  for  any- 
body, I  thought  he  ought  to  be 
e^^'^ouraged,  and  I  said  he  should 
have  a  new  bicycle  with  pneu- 
matic tires  and  all  the  latest  im- 
provements at  Christmas,  if  you 
did  not  see  fit  to  give  it  to  him 
sooner." 

In  August  I  took  my  annual 
day's  fishing,  which  has  come'  to 
be  rather  a  joke  in  the  house, 
because,  in  spite  of  my  elaborate 
preparations  the  night  before,  and 
the  unheard-of  hour  at  which  I 
rise  in  the  morning,  I  have  never 
been  known  to  catch  anything 
worth  bringing  home. 

This  time  my  companion  was  a 
journalist  from  Chicago,  an  ardent 
young  fellow,  who  could  not  keep 
from  "  shop  "  even  when  off  on 
his  holidays,  and  who  had  started 
a  small  weekly  paper  in  which 
were  to  be  recorded  the  doings  of 
a  certain  congress  holding  a  sum- 
mer session  in  our  grove. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


57 


We  rowed  up  the  little  lake  on 
the  edge  of  the  lily-pads,  fishing 
both  sides  of  it,  but  caught 
nothing  except  a  sunfish  or  two. 
Then  we  lit  our  pipes  and  talked. 

"  What  an  extremely  clever 
young  lady  that  adopted  daughter 
of  yours  is.  I  heard  only  the 
other  day  that  she  is  not  your 
own." 

''Indeed!" 

'*  Yes,  sir.  No  one  would  be- 
lieve it  to  talk  to  her,  but  she's 
got  a  surprisingly  bright  mind  for 
one  so  young.  She  can't  be  more 
than  seventeen,  but  her  descrip- 
tions are  good  enough  for  one  of 
the  best  magazines,  and  she  has 
evidently  thought  a  lot  i  all  the 
leading  topics  of  the  day.  Why, 
she's  up  in  Hypnotism,  Evolu- 
tion, Theosophy— everything ! " 

"  Bless  my  soul !  How  did  you 
find  all  that  out?" 

Thereupon  he  fished  from  his 
pocket  a  couple  of  his  tiresome 
little  publications. 


i 

i 


•SI 

: 

it 


r 


'lit' 


i  1 


58 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


"  I  asked  her  to  write  some- 
thing for  our  paper,  that's  how  I 
know.     Want  to  see  ?  " 

I  do  not  set  up  to  be  a  literary 
critic,  bi.t  I  guess  I  know  my  own 
wife's  style  of  composition  when  I 
encounter  it.  During  the  two 
years  that  we  were  engaged  she 
lived  in  Detroit  and  I  in  Indiana, 
and  I  missed  her  letters  so  much 
after  we  were  married  that  to  this 
day  she  is  in  the  habit  of  letting 
me  read  those  she  writes  to  other 
people.  I  was  not  going  to  give 
her  away  to  that  newspaper  man, 
though,  for  the  name  '*  Mary 
Gemmell "  stared  me  in  the  face 
from  the  end  of  each  article  ;  but 
I  remonstrated  with  Belle  when  I 
reached  home. 

**  How  could  I  help  it,  Dave  ? 
There  was  the  girl  teasing  me  to 
write  something  for  her  because 
this  fellow  had  asked  her  to  do  it. 
She  said  I  could  scribble  down 
something  just  as  easy  as  not,  and 
then  she  could  copy  it  for  him. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


59 


Copy  it!  She  took  hours  to  do  it, 
and  I  considered  she  deserved  all 
the  praise  she  got  for  the  articles." 

''  I  wouldn't  do  it  again,  if  I 
were  you.  It  sets  the  girl  sailing 
under  false  colors." 

"Poor  Mary!  Her  one  little 
accomplishment  has  been  of  no 
use  to  her  since  that  professional 
elocutionist  came  to  the  hotel,  and 
I  hated  to  see  her  cast  altogether 
into  the  shade,  especially  while 
Dolly  Martin  was  here." 

Still  there  came  another  produc- 
tion from  the  pen  of  Miss  Mary 
Gemmell. 

"Really,  Belle,"  said  I,  "this  is 
carrying  the  joke  too  far." 

"  Don't  you  worry  about  it. 
Some  of  the  old  cats  at  the  hotel 
began  to  suspect  that  Mary  hadn't 
v/ritten  those  things,  and  accused 
me  to  my  face  of  doing  it  myself, 
so  I  had  to  write  an  account  of 
the  picnic  up  the  little  lake,  be- 
cause they  all  know  I  wasn't  there 
at  all !  " 


1 


'II 


■ii 


Jin 


mil 


60 


THE   MAKING    OF    MARY. 


"  Let  this  be  the  last,  then." 
"  It  shall,  I  assure  you,  for  I 
am  much  displeased  with  Mary. 
Since  Mrs.  Martin  and  Dolly  left, 
she's  been  going  it  just  as  hard  as 
ever  with  Lincoln  Todd.  If  you 
walk  up  to  the  Knight  Templar's 
Building  I'll  warrant  you'll  find 
them  there  promenading  this  very 
minute." 

"  No,  I  won't,  because  I  passed 
them  just  a  little  while  ago  as  I 
came  through  the  woods,  sitting 
on  a  secluded  bench,  his  arm 
round  her  waist  and  her  head  on 
his  shoulder." 

"  Didn't  they  see  you  ?  " 
**  I  dare  say,  but  I  never  let  on  I 
saw  them.  What's  the  use  ?  I 
can't  be  expected  to  leave  the 
Echo  to  my  subs,  and  come  down 
here  to  play  special  policeman 
to  Mary  Mason.  I  should  have 
thought  Todd  was  more  of  a 
gentleman." 

"  So  should  I,  but  I've  spoken 
to     him,    quarreled     with      him 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


6l 


indeed,  so  that  he  doesn't  come 
near  the  house,  but  I  know  that 
he  and  Mary  meet  just  the  same. 
Thank  Heaven !  he  will  be  married 
soon." 

*'  Have  you  told  Mary  that  ?  " 

**  Yes ;  but  she  laughs  and 
shrugs  her  shoulders ;  evidently 
thinks  she  knows  more  about 
Lincoln  Todd's  intentions  ♦•^'an 
I  do." 

In  the  last  week  of  Augi  >i  Mi, 
Todd  went  off  for  a  few  days  *'  on 
business,"  and  then  there  came  a 
dreadful  morning  when  uic  an- 
nouncement of  his  marriage  to 
Dolly  Martin  appeared  in  the 
Ec/io. 

Mary  would  not  believe  her 
ears.  She  took  the  paper  down 
to  the  beach,  and  spelled  out  the 
notice  word  by  word.  Then  she 
lay  down  on  the  sand  and  bawled, 
kicking  and  squealing  like  a  year- 
old  infant  when  Belle  appealed  to 
her  self-respect. 

"  I    could    have    spanked    her 


i 


t 


i 


I   I 


<rtf 


62 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


well,"  said  my  wife.  The  worst 
of  it  was  that  the  whole  hotel  was 
"  on  to  the  racket,"  as  Watty 
vulgarly  expressed  it,  and  rather 
chuckled  over  Belle's  mortifica- 
tion, instead  of  sympathizing  with 
her  in  the  trying  time  she  was 
having  with  her  "  adopted  daugh- 
ter." 

Our  grief,  as  a  family,  was  not 
unbearable  when  the  time  came 
in  September  for  Mary  Mason  to 
go  back  to  the  convent. 


,i»'v 


CHAPTER  IV. 

HE  self-assertive  sleigh- 
bells  suddenly  ceased 
their  tinkling,  and  the 
long  covered  van,  with 
its  four  horses,  drew  up 
in  front  of  our  "  House  of  Many 
Gables,"  in  Lake  City.  Watty, 
then  a  tall  lad  of  eighteen,  over- 
coated,  fur-capped,  and  gloved, 
went  quickly  out,  banging  the 
front  door  after  him,  while  his 
younger  brothers  and  sisters  made 
holes  with  their  breath  through 
the  frost  on  the  window  panes, 
to  watch  his  departure  with  the 
hilarious  load  of  young  folks. 

"  Why  aint  you  goin',  Mame?" 
asked  Joe,  our  smallest  son,  of  the 
girl  spending  her  Christmas  holi- 
days with  us. 


1 


1 

i 


64 


THF,    MAKING    OF    MARV. 


ill  1 1 


m 


■  mm. 


«l 


"  Wasn't  asked,"  she  replied  de- 
fiar»t.ly.  "An'  what's  more,  I  don't 
care  to  go  anywheres,  neither,  if 
the  girls  don't  act  better  to  mc 
than  they  done  at  that  party  the 
other  night." 

Belle  raised  her  head  from  the 
Treasurer's  book  of  the  House  of 
Refuge. 

"  Perhaps  you  weren't  nice  to 
them,  Mary?" 

"  Yes,  I  was  too.  I  smiled 
whenever  one  of  them  looked  at 
me,  but  they  all  turned  their  heads 
as  if  they'd  never  seen  me  be- 
fore." 

My  wife  sighed  as  she  bent 
over  her  book  again.  If  the  dififi- 
culty  of  befriending  Mary  rested 
only  with  outsiders  it  might  have 
been  patiently  borne,  but  there 
was  mother,  to  whom  the  girl's 
presence  in  the  house  was  a  con- 
stant grievance. 

I  had  been  able  to  buy  a  quiet 
horse  and  a  Mikado  cutter  for 
Belle  when  the  snow  came,  but  she 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


65 


had  no  pleasure  out  of  them  dur- 
ing the  vacation. 

"  I'm  fjoing  to  drive  downtown, 
mother,"  I  heard  her  say  one 
morning.      "  Would   you    like  to 


go 


P" 


'*  Is  Mary  gaun  ?  ** 

"  I  thought  of  taking  her.** 

"  Then  I'll  no*  gang.  I  wadna 
like  tc  ':rood  Mary." 

**  Dear  mother,  there's  plenty 
of  room." 

"  Ay,  ay,  but  ye  ken  Mary 
doesna  like  tae  sit  wi'  her  back  tae 
the  horse." 

That  sort  of  thing  was  always 
happening.  One  day  the  old  lady 
came  home  from  a  round  of  visits, 
much  perturbed  in  mind  and  body. 
The  sandy  hair  I  inherited,  and 
have  largely  lost,  does  not  show 
the  gray  with  which  it  is  mixed, 
and  so  light  and  wiry  is  she  one 
finds  it  difficult  to  remember  my 
mother's  seventy  years.  She  is  a 
small  woman,  but  her  personality 
is  sufficiently  large  for  the  ripples 


3 

i 


1 


ill 


llilj 


II 


m    m\ 


1  ,'ii' ' 


'?  ii 


66 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


to  be  felt  throughout  the  house- 
hold when  lis  surface  is  disturbed. 

**  What  dae  ye  think  I've  been 
hearin'?"  she  cried,  finding  me 
alone  in  the  nursery  on  the  sofa, 
and  helpless  in  her  hands. 

"  I  can't  imagine,  mother.  You 
generally  have  something  spicy  to 
tell  us  after  you've  been  calling  on 
the  MacTavishes." 

**  Dae  ye  ken  'at  yon  hizzy  ye've 
ta'en  intill  yer  hoose  ca's  hersel* 
Mary  Gemme/l  f  *' 

"  Oh,  well,  what's  in  a  name  ?  " 

**  I  i\'onner  tae  hear  ye,  Davvit ! 
What  wad  yer  faither  hae  thocht 
aboot  it,  or  yer  gran'faither? 
Gie'n  the  femly  name,  that's  come 
doon  unspotted  frae  ae  generation 
till  anither,  tae  a  funnlin'  aff  the 
streets!  Ou,  ay!  I  micht  'a' 
kent  what  wad  happen  when  I 
h'ard  tell  o'  ye  bein'  merrit  till  an 
Amerrican." 

"  Hold  up  there,  mother. 
You're  just  twenty  years  too  late 
in   raking   up   that  story.      If  it 


RV. 

I'd  bouse- 
isturbed. 
[Ve  been 
ding  me 
the  sofa, 

■• 

ler.  You 
f  spicy  to 
:alling  on 

zzy  ye  Ve 
,'s  hersel* 

name?" 
'  Davvit ! 
le  thocht 
I'faither? 
at's  come 
sneration 
a  aff  the 
Tiicht   *a' 

when  I 
rit  till  an 

mother. 
5  too  late 
If  it 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


67 


suits  mc  and  Belle  to  have  that 
girl  called  '  Mary  Gemmell,'  Mary 
Gemmell  she  shall  be,  if  it  turns 
all  Scotland  head  over  heels  into 
the  North  Sea." 

So  seldom  do  I  break  out  that 
an  eruption  of  mine  never  fails 
to  clear  the  air  of  an  unwelcome 
topic. 

Our  boys  have  grown  up  on  a 
sort  of  an  **  every-man-for  him- 
self "  principle,  and  when  it  came 
to  a  fight  for  the  favorite  corner 
of  the  sofa,  the  favorite  game,  or 
picture-book,  "  Mamie  "  was  in  the 
thick  of  it  every  time. 

"What  else  can  you  expect?" 
said  I  to  Belle  consolingly. 
"  She's  been  fighting  the  world  on 
her  own  account  ever  since  she 
can  remember,  and  our  house 
represents  to  her  only  a  change  of 
battle  ground." 

"  I  think  her  'ather  must  have 
been  a  gentleman." 

"  He  certainly  had  one  gentle- 
manly peculiarity." 


^ 

% 


i 

i 

4 


■   li 

VI 

III  1 

'in 

k,.) 


68 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


"  Don't  be  a  brute,  Dave.  I 
mean  that  Mary's  ancestors  must 
have  been  wealthy  people,  she  has 
such  a  taste  for  luxury." 

"  That  doesn't  follow.  I'm  sure 
you've  seen  plenty  of  poor  folks 
go  without  the  necessaries  of  life 
in  order  to  get  the  luxuries." 

"  She  is  shiftless  enough.  To- 
day I  took  her  into  a  store  to  buy 
her  some  stockings,  and  she  re- 
fused to  have  any  but  the  very 
best  quality.  *  The  second  best 
are  what  I  get  for  myself,  Mary,' 
said  I ;  *  they  wear  much  longer 
than  the  others.*  *  I  don't  care,' 
she  said.  '  If  I  can't  have  the 
best,  I  don't  want  any.'  '  Then 
do  without,'  said  I,  and  we  left 
the  place.  The  fun  of  it  is  that 
she  won't  even  darn  her  old  ones ! 
I  can't  always  be  so  firm  with  her. 
I'm  amazed  at  myself  sometimes, 
the  things  she  gets  out  of  me. 
What  do  you  suppose  she  wants 
now? 

I  gave  a  warning  cough  to  sig- 


I  i. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


69 


nify  that  my  mother  had  come 
into  the  nursery,  but  Belle  gazed 
straight  ahead  into  the  wood  fire, 
and  seesawed  in  the  rattan 
rocker — a  tuneful  symphony  in  a 
mauve  tea-gown. 

*' A  cornet,  if  you  please." 

''  A  cornet !  "  said  I.  "  What- 
ever put  that  into  her  head  ?" 

*'  I  can't  tell.  She  says  the 
music  professor  at  the  convent  can 
teach  her  to  play  it,  and  she  thinks 
if  she  learned  she  might  be  able  to 
lead  the  singing  in  a  church  with 
one. 

"  Perhaps  somebody  played  the 
cornet  in  that  concert  company 
she  was  with." 

"  Na,  na.  It's  nearer  hame  than 
that,"  mother  struck  in.  "  She 
has  a  notion  o*  ane  o'  thae  cratur's 
'at  pl'y  at  the  Opera  Hoose.  I 
hae  seen  her  gang  by  the  window 
wi'  him,  an*  spiered  at  Watty  wha 
he  was." 

"  I  don't  like  Wat's  telling  tales 
of  Mary." 


i 


h\ 


70 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


liiWm  It 


'»!: 


KWi 


"  He  dinna,  Davvit,  till  I  pit  it 
tae  him.  He  canna  bear  the 
tawpie,  and  doesna  like  to  hae  her 
p'inted  oot  as  his  sister.  A  body 
canna  blame  the  laddie.  It's  a 
heap  better  than  his  fa'in*  in  luv 
wi  her. 

"  Perhaps  it  is,"  groaned  Isabel. 

When  mother  had  gone  to  bed 
my  wife  said  : 

**  Mrs.  Wade  li -s  been  here  to- 
day to  ask  Watty  and  Mary  to  a 
young  people's  dance  on  Friday 
night." 

"  What  did  you.  say  ?  " 

**  I  told  her  I  wasn't  going  to 
dress  that  girl  jp  and  send  her  out 
to  parties  to  ht  snubbed  and 
slighted  b/  th'e  other  girls,  as  she 
was  at  the  dancing  school  ball. 
!^-he  said  that  if  I  let  Mary  go 
she'd  see  that  she  had  a  good 
time.  For  her  part,  she  admired 
the  way  I'd  stuck  up  for  the  girl 
in  spite  of  everything  ;  and  if  she 
was  good  enough  to  live  with  us 
as  a  daughter,  it  would  surely  not 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


71 


ill  I  pit  it 
bear  the 
:o  hae  her 
A  body 
e.  It's  a 
in'  in  luv 

ed  Isabel, 
ne  to  bed 

1  here  to- 
^^ary  to  a 
)n  Friday 


going  to 
id  her  out 
bed  and 
rls,  as  she 
lool   ball. 

Mary  go 
a  good 

admired 
r  the  girl 
nd  if  she 
:  with  us 
urely  not 


contaminate  anybody  else  to  meet 
her  out  of  an  evening." 

Saturday  night  I  inquired  of 
Belle  how  Mary  got  on  at  the 
party. 

"  First  rate.  Mrs.  Wade  met 
her  at  the  door  of  the  drav  ing 
room  and  kissed  her.  '  How 
you've  grown,  Mary !  *  said  she, 
and  then  she  took  her  round 
and  introduced  her  to  all  the  girls 
in  the  room,  including  sonic  of 
those  who've  been  cutting  her 
right  and  left,  as  well  as  to  every 
boy  she  didn't  know  already. 
Of  course  she  danced  every 
dance,  and  had  the  best  time 
going." 

"  And,  of  course,  she  put  it  all 
down  to  her  own  superior  attrac- 
tions?" 

"  Just  exactly.  This  morning 
she  didn't  want  to  help  me  m  :e 
the  beds!" 

Mary's  Christmas  present  liad 
been  a  beautiful  silver-plate''  cor- 
net, and  of  course  she  must  learn 


v\ 

p   ■ 


72 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


to  play  it  when  she  went  back  to 
the  convent.  Word  came  shortly 
that  the  music  master  employed 
there  could  not  undertake  to 
teach  her  to  play  the  instrument, 
but  that  a  "  professor "  could  be 
secured  to  go  out  from  Detroit 
twice  a  week — if  desired.  We 
seemed  to  be  in  for  it,  so  the 
lessons  were  desired,  and  we  com- 
forted oursrlves  with  the  assur- 
ance that  if  Mary  did  not  turn  out 
to  be  a  tiptop  reciter  she  would 
surely  prove  a  tiptop  cornet 
player.  Her  unusual  talent  would 
justify  my  wife  in  her  unusual 
step,  and  the  society  of  Lake 
City  would  forgive  her  for  attempt- 
ing to  thrust  the  girl  into  its 
midst  as  an  equal.  Many  of  our 
acquaintances  seemed  to  take 
mother's  view  of  the  case, — "  Mat- 
ter out  of  place  becomes  dirrt !  " 
— and  Belle  was  put  on  her  mettle 
to  convince  the  majority  that  she 
had  done  exactly  the  right  thing 
in  thus   disclassing  people.     Dis- 


t  back  to 
le  shortly 
employed 
irtake  to 
strument, 

could  be 
1  Detroit 
ed.  We 
t,  so  the 
I  we  com- 
he   assur- 

turn  out 

iie  would 

cornet 

nt  would 

unusual 

of   Lake 

•  attempt- 

into    its 

ly  of  our 

to  take 
,— "  Mat- 
dirrt !  " 
sr  mettle 
that  she 
ht  thing 
le.     Dis- 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


73 


classing  people  ?  In  a  free 
republic  ! 

We  received  glowing  accounts 
of  the  cornet  lessons. 

"Dear  girl!"  said  Belle  enthusi- 
astically. **  She  must  have  the 
real  artistic  temperament  to  be 
so  determined  to  excel  in  one  or 
other  of  the  arts." 

"  She's  dramatic,  anyway,"  said 
I,  and  I  was  confirmed  in  my 
opinion  along  in  the  spring,  when 
the  cornet,  and  aught  else,  ap- 
peared to  have  palled  upon  the 
versatile  Mary.  She  wrote  that 
she  had  serious  thoughts  of  taking 
the  veil. 

"Bah!"  said  I;  "what's  she 
after  now?  She  wants  to  scare 
us  into  something." 

Belle  wrote  privately  to  the 
Lady  Superior,  telling  her  that  if 
she  considered  Mary  would  be  a 
desirable  acquisition  to  their  ranks 
she  had  no  sort  of  objection  to 
her  joining  them. 

The    good    sister   replied    that 


.N 


r' 


'II 


74 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


Miss  Gemmell  had  not  a  grain  of 
the  stuff  of  which  nuns  are  made, 
that  her  leanings  were  all  in  a 
worldly  direction. 

"No  hope  in  that  quarter!" 
laughed  I,  but  Belle  chided  me 
for  making  fun  of  Mary  in  her 
absence. 

When  ''Miss  Mamie  Gemmell" 
joined  us  at  Interlaken  for  the 
summer  her  convent  manners 
lasted  for  about  two  weeks,  and 
then  gave  place  to  those  of  a 
spoiled  and  pampered  daughter 
of  the  house. 

We  in  America  are  accustomed 
to  disrespectfulness  and  wayward- 
ness in  our  own  children,  but  to 
notice  the  same  attitude  in  a  little 
nobody  from  nowhere  we  have 
taken  in  out  of  charity,  makes  a 
man  or  woman  stand  aghast. 

"  I  don't  believe  she  cares  a 
straw  for  me  personally,"  Belle 
would  say  sometimes,  "  but  I 
must  confess  I  like  her  better 
than  the  cringing,  fawning  variety. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


75 


She's  outspoken    in   her   imperti- 
nent demands." 


After  a  very  hot  week  in  July  I 
joyfully  took  the  train  on  Satur- 
day afternoon  for  the  five  miles* 
ride  to  Interlaken,  and  went  to 
sleep  that  night  with  my  ears 
full  of  the  sound  of  waves  and 
pine  trees;  my  heart  filled  with 
the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  I 
had  a  whole  round  day  ahead  of 
me — a  sunrise  and  a  sunset  at 
either  end. 

I  omitted  the  sunrise  part  of 
the  programme,  but  between  ten 
and  eleven  I  was  ready  for  a  walk 
down  the  pier  to  watch  the 
bathers.  American  women  are 
seldom  plump  enough  to  stand 
the  undress  uniform  of  a  bathing 
costume.  They  run  to  extremes 
— become  very  stout  indeed,  or 
else  very  thin,  but  in  girlhood 
the  tendency  is  to  over-slimness. 

I  was  thinking  what  a  contrast 
our  summer  girls  would    present 


i 


ill 


76 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


I'  , 

y 

Ir  ■■ 

4  . 


i 

w  i 

! 

i 

i 

i 

' 

«r 

to  a  group  of  Scotch  lasses, 
though,  to  be  sure,  I  was  never 
privileged  to  see  any  of  the  latter 
in  bathing-dress,  when  a  well- 
rounded  apparition  in  sky  blue 
luster  and  no  bathing  cap  emerged 
from  one  of  the  disrobing  houses. 
This  damsel  betook  herself  boldly 
to  the  pier,  instead  of  splashing 
around  the  edge  of  the  sand  as 
the  others  were  doing,  and,  com- 
ing near  the  end,  took  a  run  and 
then  a  b:  utiful  header  into  the 
deep  blue  water. 

She  had  passed  me  too  quickly 
to  be  recognized,  but  as  her  face 
appeared  above  the  surface  I  saw 
it  belonged  to  no  other  than  our 
adopted  daughter,  for  as  such,  at 
the  moment,  was  I  pleased  to  own 
her.  She  shook  the  water  out  of 
her  ears,  gave  her  knob  of  hair  an 
extra  twist,  brushed  back  the  ring- 
lets that  threatened  her  eyes,  and 
looked  as  much  at  home  as  if  there 
were  eighteen  feet  of  land,  instead 
of  eighteen  feet  of  water  below  her. 


i 


Kv. 

lasses, 
IS  never 
he  latter 

a    well- 

ky  blue 
emerged 

houses. 

f  boldly 
plashing 

sand  as 
id,  corn- 
run  and 
into  the 

quickly 
her  face 
:e  I  saw 
han  our 

such,  at 
1  to  own 
;r  out  of 

hair  an 
the  ring- 
yes,  and 

if  there 

instead 
low  her. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


77 


There  were  several  young  men 
swimming  about  at  the  end  of  the 
wharf,  and  they  declared  with 
gusto  that  a  springboard  must  be 
erected  for  "  Miss  Gemmell "  at 
once.  I  declined  to  assist  in 
breaking  the  Sabbath  over  any 
such  pranks,  but  a  couple  of 
scantily  clad,  dripping  youths 
arose  from  the  deep  and  suc- 
ceeded in  loosening  a  heavy  three- 
inch  plank  from  the  flooring  of 
the  wharf.  This  was  projected 
well  out  over  the  water,  and  the 
fair  Mary  was  induced  to  ascend 
and  exhibit  therefrom.  I  did  not 
approve  at  all,  but  thought  it  my 
duty  to  remain  as  chaperon  until 
Belle  and  another  lady,  whom  I 
perceived  walking  leisurely  out  the 
pier,  should  arrive. 

The  young  men  sprang  back 
into  the  water  to  be  on  the  recep- 
tion committee,  and  Mary  teetered 
on  the  far  end  of  the  plank. 
There  was  heard  a  loud,  sugges- 
tive crack,  and    she   leaped    into 


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78 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


'  n» 


space  in  a  most  graceful  semicircle 
before  touching  the  water;  but 
that  awful  board,  the  instant  her 
weight  was  removed,  rose  straight 
up  in  the  air,  nearly  knocked  me 
off  the  dock,  and  with  a  groan  slid 
through  the  opening  whence  it 
had  been  raised,  into  the  depths 
below. 

Belle  rushed  to  my  rescue,  while 
the  other  woman  stood  still  and 
shrieked. 

"  Nobody  hurt !  "  called  out 
from  the  water  a  nice-looking  lad 
who  was  swimming  beside  Mary, 
and  apparently  daring  her  to 
further  exploits. 

"Who  is  the  young  man?"  I 
asked  my  wife,  being  ready  to 
change  the  subject  from  my  own 
narrow  escape. 

"You  mean  the  one  with  the 
Burne  Jones  head  and  the  sleepy 
blue  eyes  that's  round  with  Mary 
all  the  time  ?  His  name's  Flaker, 
and  he's  a  medical  student  from 
Chicago.     That's  all  I  know  about 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


79 


him."  But  she  was  destined  to 
hear  more,  as  we  sat  on  the  hotel 
veranda  that  night,  from  two  old 
ladies  inside  the  open  window  and 
closed  blind. 

"  Isn't  it  scandalous,"  said  one, 
"  the  way  Mrs.  Gcmmell  tries  to 
shove  that  girl  forward  on  every 
occasion?" 

♦'  Yes,"  said  the  other.  "  The 
old  friendship  between  her  and 
Mrs.  Martin  is  all  broken  up  since 
she  tried  so  hard  to  get  Lincoln 
Todd  entangled  with  her  last 
summer,  and  now  she's  doing  her 
best  to  catch  young  Flaker." 

"  I  don't  believe  he  has  any  idea 
who  the  girl  is,  or  rather  who  she 
is  not." 

"  No,  indeed,  and  his  people 
would  be  in  a  great  state  if  they 
knew  the  sort  of  company  he  was 
keeping." 

"Who  are  they?" 

**  Don't  you  know  ?  His  father 
is  Dr.  Flaker,  who  has  that  fine 
mansion   on    the    Grand    Boule- 


1 

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I 

i 


t 


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4 


8o 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY, 


id 


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■¥     •i';-fll 


im;, 


# 


vard,  and  his  mother  belongs  to 
one  of  the  best  New  York  fam- 
ilies. They're  all  as  proud  as 
Lucifer." 

''  I  think  it  is  time  we  went 
home,  David.  Listeners  never 
hear  any  good  of  themselves," 
said  Belle,  loudly  enough  to  ar- 
rest the  attention  of  the  two 
dames. 

Walking  over  the  dried-up 
moonlit  grass  to  our  cottage,  I 
threatened  to  go  back  and  give 
them  a  piece  of  my  mind,  but  my 
wife  said : 

"Maybe  I  did  need  a  slight 
reminder.  I  haven't  paid  much 
attention  to  Mary's  goings-on  this 
summer.  I  must  talk  to  Mr. 
Flaker  the  first  chance." 

The  opportunity  came  before 
the  evening  was  over,  while  I 
was  in  my  pet  hammock  round 
the  corner  of  the  cottage,  and 
Belle  in  a  rocking-chair  at  the 
front. 

"  Good-evening,  Mr.  Flaker,"  I 


TJIF,    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


8l 


heard  her  say.  "  I  don't  think 
you've  ever  seen  the  inside  of 
our  cottage.  Won't  you  step  in 
for  a  moment,  now  that  it  is 
lighted  up?" 

The  moment  satisfied  him,  for 
he  speedily  returned  to  the 
veranda. 

"  I  never  saw  such  a  beautiful 
swimmer  as  Miss  Gemmell,"  said 
the  mannish  voice,  and  Belle 
replied    impressively : 

''  I  believe  you  are  not  aware, 
Mr.  Flaker,  that  the  young  lady 
you  call  Miss  Gemmell  is  not  my 
own  daughter." 

"  Your  stepchild  is  she,  or  your 
husband's  niece  ?  " 

"  Neither.  She  is  no  relation 
at  all — just  a  poor  girl  whom  I 
have  taken  up  to  educate.  She 
can  barely  read  or  write.  I  felt 
that  I  ought  to  tell  you  this  be- 
cause you  have  been  paying  her 
a  good  deal  of  attention." 

"  Indeed,  Mrs.  Gemmell,  I  ad- 
mire  Miss  Gemmell  very  much  ; 


M 

i 

HI 


82 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


but  I  assure  you  I  never  regarded 
her  as  anything  else  than  a  pleas- 
ant summer  acquaintance." 

And  Mary  was  dropped  forth- 
with. 


««'M 


CHAPTER  V. 

HE  winter  of  1892-93 
Mary  spent  at  home 
with  us.  Her  first  ex- 
pressed wish,  when  the 
family  returned  from 
Interlaken,  was  to  be  confirmed, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Armstrong  of 
the  church  we  do  not  attend  was 
duly  notified. 

"  He  says  I  must  be  christened 
first,"  said  Mary.  **  Would  you 
mind  if  he  called  me  '  Mary  Gem- 
mell '  ?  There  aint  any  name 
that  I've  a  right  to,  and  I  don't 
want  to  be  called  *  Mason,'  be- 
cause that's  the  name  of  the 
woman  that  abused  me  when 
I  was  little.  I'd  rather  have 
yours." 


n 

n 


TV 


84 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


She  was  such  a  pathetic-look- 
ing young  person,  standing  there 
before  Belle  in  her  fresh  and 
innocent  loveliness,  that  my  wife 
had  not  the  heart  to  refuse  her 
anything. 

When  I  came  home  that  same 
evening  there  was  a  tableau 
vivant  in  front  of  the  parlor  fire. 
Dressed  in  white,  Mary  sat  on  a 
low  stool  at  the  feet  of  the  Rev. 
Walter  Armstrong,  her  hands 
clasped  in  her  lap,  gazing  up  into 
the  clean-shaven  clerical  face,  with 
that  which  passed  for  her  soul  in 
her  eyes.  In  spite  of  his  stiff 
round  collar  and  long  black  coat 
the  rector  is  a  young  man,  and  I 
saw  that  he  was  impressed. 

**  You  understand,  do  you, 
Mary,"  he  said  tenderly,  "  that 
when  you  are  received  into  the 
Church  you  have  God  for  your 
Father  and  Christ  for  your  Elder 
Brother?" 

"  Yes,  I  understand,  Mr.  Arm- 
strong," replied  the  girl  earnestly. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


85 


you, 


"And  that's  just  what  I  always 
wanted — was  to  have  'folks'  " 

I  retired  in  haste  to  the  dining 
room,  where  Isabel  was  brimming 
over  with  a  new  scheme. 

"  I've  always  found  the  house- 
keeping a  drag,  and  it  becomes 
more  so  every  year  as  my  outlook 
broadens.  I  want  to  keep  up  to 
the  times,  but  I  never  have  any 
leisure  for  reading,  and  our  four 
eldest  being  boys,  there  seamed 
to  be  no  hope  for  years  of  having 
any  one  to  relieve  me." 

"  Mary's  a  godsend,"  said  I 

"  I  wish  you  really  thought 
that,  as  I  do.  She's  quick  and 
adaptable,  and  I'm  going  to  hand 
over  to  her  a  weekly  allowance 
and  let  her  keep  the  house 
on   it." 

"What  about  her  accomplish- 
ments— the  elocution  and  the 
cornet  ?  " 

"  They  can  stand  in  the  mean- 
time. Do  you  know,  Davie," 
hesitatingly,   "  I'm   beginning  to 


WW  •  .* 


111 

1:3 -'if 
111     ^ 

((;■  'it; 
iisi..,^i 


ii'i  \ 

liH' 


86 


TFIE    MAKING    OK    MARY. 


.1' 


m 


\w 


be  aficiid  she  hasn't  a  good  car 
for  music." 

"Why?" 

"  The  other  night  when  the 
Mortons  were  in  she  sat  and 
talked  to  Frank  Wade  the  whole 
time  Eva  was  playing." 

*'  That's  nothing.  Everyone 
else  did  the  same." 

"  But  for  a  girl  who  is  trying 
to  pose  as  a  cornet  player,  who 
thinks  she  might  earn  her  living 
leading  a  church  choir  with  one, 
it's   bad  policy,  to  say  the  least 

it. 

"  Earn  her  living  !  I  asked  Joe 
Mitchell,  when  he  was  listening  to 
her  practicing  out  in  the  summer- 
house,  what  he  thought  of  her 
playing,  and  he  said  she'd  better 
keep  to  a  penny  whistle." 

"  Very  rude  of  him !  " 

"  No,  it  wasn't.  I  asked  him 
point  blank  if  I  should  be  justi- 
fied in  paying  for  the  more  les- 
sons she  wants,  and  he  said  de- 
cidedly I  should  not." 


THE    MAKING    OF    MAKV. 


87 


ear 


him 
justi- 
les- 
de- 


'*  Well,"  said  Belle  wearily, 
"  we'll  try  the  housekeeping. 
That's  a  woman's  true  vocation, 
according  to  orthodox  ideas.  I 
shouldn't  have  set  my  heart  on 
Mary  turning  out  to  be  anything 
extraordinary.  If  she'll  only  be 
kind  of  half  decent,  and  help  me 
Dut  with  the  housework,  I'll  be 
more  than  satisfied." 

The  sense  of  power  gave  new 
brightness  to  Mary's  fair  face,  and 
her  step  through  the  house  was  of 
the  lightest  during  the  next  week 
or  two,  but  the  boys  rebelled  in 
turn. 

*' Mammsil  Mary's  locked  the 
pantry.  Must  we  go  to  her  for 
the  \zey  whenever  we  want  any- 
thing?" 

"  I  call  it  a  mean  shame  !  "  from 
Joe. 

**  What  were  you  doing?" 

**We  didn't  do  nothin',  on'y  eat 
up  the  pie  she  meant  for  dessert. 
I'm  sure  Margaret  wouldn't  mind 
makin'  another." 


!2» 


I'll  '.|. 

•V 

It 


4 


iH' 


88 


THK    MAKING    OK    MARV. 


f. 


if/ 


Mr* 


I* ' 

1^' 


:"'.    l: 


"Mary's  perfectly  right,  buys; 
I've  indulgec'  you  too  much." 

Then  it  was  Watty  who  com- 
plained : 

**  Mary  says  she  won't  have  us 
mussing  up  the  parlor  after  she's 
tidied  it,  and  that  we've  got  to 
change  our  boots  when  we  come 
into  the  house."     Or  Chrissie  : 

"  Mary  says  I'm  big  enough  now 
to  keep  my  own  room  in  order, 
and  she  aint  going  to  do  it  any 
more.     She's  wors'cn  grandma  !  " 

To  their  grandma  did  they  go 
with  their  woes  when  they  found 
their  mother  so  unaccountably 
obdurate,  but  they  did  not  get 
much  comfort  there.  Detest 
Mary  as  she  might,  my  poor 
mother  is  always  loyal  to  the 
powers  that  be,  and  she  told  the 
children  : 

"Yer  ..lither  kens  fine  what 
she's  aboot,  an'  ye  needna  fash 
yer  heids  tae  come  cryin*  tae  me." 

She  even  went  so  far  as  to  back 
Mary  up  in  her  suggestion  that 


\ 


,  buv  s ; 
li." 
o  com- 


lave  us 
r  she's 
got  to 
5  come 
lie : 

[h  now 
order, 
it  any 
Ima !  " 
ley  go 
found 
itably 
)t  get 
)etest 
poor 
)    the 
d  the 

what 

fash 
>» 


THE    MAKINti    OF    MARV. 


89 


me. 

back 

that 


the  boys  should  cat  what  was  set 
before  them,  asking  no  questions. 

*•  That's  the  w'y  ycr  faither  wai> 
brocht  up.  If  he  didna  finish  his 
parritch  in  the  mornin',  they  were 
warmed  up  for  him  again  at  nicht. 
Ye  tak'  but  a  spinfu'  'at  ye  could 
hardly  ca*  parritch,  for  they're  jist 
puzhioned  wi'  sugar." 

Mary  was  not  naturally  fond  of 
children,  and,  having  entered  our 
family  full-grown,  she  found  it 
hard  to  put  up  with  the  freaks  of 
our  six,  there  being  no  foundation 
of  sisterly  love  upon  which  to 
build  toleration. 

Belle's  housekeeping  had  always 
been  lavish.  She  ordered  her 
groceries  wholesale,  and  when 
they  were  done  never  inquired 
what  had  become  of  them. 

"  I  decline  to  go  into  details — 
life  is  too  short !  I  don't  know 
where  my  patience  ends  and  my 
laziness  begins,  but  I'd  rather  be 
cheated  than  lock  things  up,  or 
try  to  keep  track  of  what  Mar- 


3, 


1 


9 

H  -  ■ 


90 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


ft 


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t0' 


garet  wastes.  She's  not  an  ideal 
*  general,'  but  it's  only  one  in  a 
hundred  that  would  stand  the 
children  pottering  about  in  the 
kitchen  so  much." 

After  the  time-worn  custom  of 
new  brooms,  Mary  made  a  bold 
attempt  to  record  each  item  of 
expenditure,  and  ordered  what 
she  wanted  from  day  to  day  ;  but 
there  was  no  calculating  the 
appetites  of  four  growing  boys, 
especially  when,  as  Mary  affirmed, 
they  sometimes  over-ate  them- 
selves just  to  spite  her. 

*'  We're  living  from  hand  to 
mouth,  /^pa,"  they  would  say, 
when  an  unwonted  scarcity  oc- 
curred. 

Truth  to  tell,  I  began  to  sym- 
pathize with  my  revolting  sons 
when  I  brought  an  old  friend 
home  with  me  to  dinner  one  day, 
and  went  to  announce  the  fact  to 
our  "  housekeeper." 

"  I  just  wish  that  Bob  Mansell 
would  quit  coming  here  so  much 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY 


91 


OC- 


when  he's  not  expected.  There's 
only  enough  pudding  fcr  our- 
selves." 

•'  Mary,"  said  I  sternly,  "  Mr. 
Mansell's  been  coming  to  this 
house  before  you  were  here,  and 
he'll  keep  on  coming  after  you're 
gone,  if  you're  not  careful." 

It  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever 
spoken  sharply  to  her,  and  I 
flattered  myself  that  I  had  done 
some  good,  though  she  held  her 
head  high  and  left  the  room. 

Belle  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  housekeeping  scheme  did 
not  work  smoothly,  and  she  re- 
sumed the  reins  of  government. 
Mary  was  still  supposed  to  do  the 
work  of  a  second  maid,  but  it 
was  evident  that  her  heart  was 
not  in  it. 

"  What  does  Mary  want  now  ?  " 
I  asked  my  wife  when  she  took 
her  usual  seat  beside  me,  as  I  lay 
on  the  sofa  with  my  pipe. 

"  She  thmks  she'd  like  to  go  to 
the  Boston  School  of  Oratory  to 


uw 


i 


ii  ■■!■ 


i 


Mi 


II 

!! 

Mi 
II 

i 


92 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


prepare  herself  to  be  a  public 
reader." 

"  Is  it  necessary  that  she  should 
be  before  the  public  in  on;,  way  or 
another?" 

"  She  doesn't  seem  to  be  much 
of  a  success  in  private  life." 

**  In  that  respect  she's  no  worse 
than  half  the  girls  in  town.  None 
of  them  dote  on  housework." 

"  But,  considering  that  this  girl 
has  no  earthly  claim  on  us,  you'd 
think  she  might  be  different." 

"  Don't  be  angry,  Belle,  at  my 
saying  so,  but  you've  only  your- 
self to  thank  for  that.  You've 
been  most  anxious  that  Mary 
should  be  just  like  one  of  our- 
selves— should  not  feel  that  she 
was  accepting  charity,  and  you've 
succeeded  only  too  well.  The 
girl  takes  everything  you  do  for 
her  as  her  right,  and  asks  for 
more.' 

"  Well,  what  about  Boston  ?  " 

"  I  think  it  would  be  arrant 
folly  to  send  her  there.     How  do 


-  ^  s9 


m 


■6 


■m 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


93 


we  know  she  has  any  more  talent 
for  elocution  than  for  mus  c  ?  " 

"  She  has  the  desire  to  learn. 
I  suppose  that's  a  sign  of  the 
ability." 

"  She  has  an  intense  desire  for 
admiration,  that's  about  the  size 
of  it.  To  be  the  center  of  all 
eyes,  giving  a  recitation  in  a  draw- 
ing room,  pleases  her  down  to  the 
ground,  but  it  doesn't  follow  that 
she  would  be  a  success  profes- 
sionally." 

"  I  dare  say  we've  spent  about 
as  much  on  her  education  as  you 
care  to  do  ju?t  now." 

"  We  have  indeed  !  " 

My  wife  and  I  are  much  in  de- 
mand at  all  the  social  functions  of 
our  town,  and,  though  I  accom- 
pany her  under  protest,  I  confess 
that,  once  the  affair  is  in  full 
swing,  I  enjoy  as  much  as  any- 
body a  hand  at  "  Pedro "  or  a 
dance. 

The  houses  of  our  city  are 
mostly  wooden  and  mostly  new. 


"1 


ill 


94 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


IJII 


Mk 


for  an  annual  conflagration  keeps 
building  brisk.  Hardwood  floors 
and  mantels  are  the  order  of  the 
day,  and  if  some  of  our  lumber- 
men and  their  wives  have  not  a 
command  of  English  grammar  in 
keeping  with  their  horses,  their 
sealskins,  and  their  diamonds,  they 
have  a  heartier  than  an  English 
welcome — except,  of  course,  for 
guests  of  such  questionable  ante- 
cedents as  our  Mary. 

Mrs.  David  Gemmell  is  a  bright 
and  witty  woman,  though  I  say  it, 
who  should  not.  But  why  should 
I  not?  She  did  not  inherit  her 
wits  from  me.  Mrs.  David  Gem- 
mell let  the  leading  ladies  of  the 
town  understand  that  unless  Mary 
was  invited  to  everything  that  was 
going  on,  we  stayed  away  our- 
selves. Lake  City  society  could 
not  proceed  without  Isabel,  so  the 
"  white  elephant "  was  received 
in  her  train,  and  truly  she  did  us 
credit  in  company,  if  nowhere 
else.      She   was   always  stylishly 


•^ 


THE    MAKINC;    OF    MARY. 


95 


It  was 
our- 
:ould 
the 
lived 
Id  us 
here 
shly 


dressed,  and  her  dancing  was  a 
joy  forever.  We  did  not  marvel 
when  Will  Axworthy,  the  most 
eligible  young  man  about,  took  it 
into  his  head  to  introduce  the 
german  to  our  benighted  citizens, 
that  he  chose  Mary  for  his  partner 
to  lead  it  with  him.  She  had  pri- 
vate lessons  from  himself,  as  well 
as  from  the  dancing  master,  and 
proud  and  happy  were  Belle  and  I 
to  sit  at  the  side  of  the  ballroom 
and  watch  her  going  through  the 
figures  and  bestowing  her  favors 
with  all  the  grace  and  dignity  of 
one  of  the  four  hundred. 

"  She  shall  go  to  Boston  to- 
morrow, if  she  wants  to,"  said  I, 
but  this  time  Belle  demurred. 

"  I  think  she  seems  likely  to 
have  a  good  time  here  this  winter, 
and  we  may  as  well  let  her  have 
her  fling." 

The  prophecy  was  fulfilled.  In 
spite  of  the  supreme  jealousy  of 
the  other  girls,  who  could  not  say 
mean   enough  things   about   her, 


^» 

«^ 

i   ? 
"t 

Ml 


I.S'J 


96 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


Mti 


11  iJj'r 


i'  S 


Mary  became  quite  the  rage  with 
the  young  men. 

One  Sunday  afternoon  Will 
Axworthy  called.  He  is  short 
and  broad,  has  reddish  hair  and  a 
chronic  blush  hardly  to  be  looked 
for  in  the  Ward  McAllister  of 
Lake  City.  Too  nervously  did  he 
plant  himself  in  my  frisky  spring 
rocker,  and  therefore  involuntarily 
did  he  present  the  soles  of  his 
boots  to  the  assembled  family, 
while  his  head  bumped  the  wall, 
to  the  huge  delight  of  our  boys! 

Undaunted  by  that  inauspicious 
beginning,  he  came  again  the  next 
Sunday,  smoked  my  best  cigars, 
and  talked  lumber,  the  one  sub- 
ject upon  which  he  is  posted,  for 
he  was  the  manager  of  a  mill  here. 

He  stayed  to  supper  that  even- 
ing and  went  with  Mary  to  church 
afterward.  Then  he  called  for  her 
with  a  cutter  the  first  bright  day, 
and  took  her  sleigh  riding.  The 
embryo  wrinkle  left  Belle's  fore- 
head. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


97 


;e  with 

I    Will 
short 
*  and  a 
looked 
ter    of 
did  he 
spring 
ntarily 
of  his 
family, 
e  wall, 
boys ! 
Dicious 
e  next 
cigars, 
i   sub- 
id,  for 
here, 
even- 
ihurch 
rher 
day, 
The 
fore- 


"  Do  you  really  think  he  means 
anything?"  said  she. 

**  Don't  be  too  sanguine  about 
it.  Nowadays,  young  men  pay  a 
girl  a  great  deal  of  attention  with 
nothing  in  their  heads  but  a  good 
time." 

**  Still,  Axworthy's  no  boy. 
He's  thirty  if  he's  a  day,  and  he 
has  a  good  salary,  and  can  afford 
to  marry  whenever  the  mood  takes 
him." 

"  Let  us  hope  and  pray  that  it 
may  take  him  soon  !  " 

"  Amen  !  "  said  Belle  solemnly. 

The  daily  friction  with  her 
proUg^e  was  becoming  too  much 
for  the  good-natured  patience  even 
of  my  better  half.  Acting  upon 
generous  impulses  is  all  very  fine, 
but  they  need  to  be  backed  up  by 
a  large  amount  of  endurance  and 
tolerance  if  the  results  are  to  be 
successfully  dealt  with. 

From  my  vantage-ground  on 
the  nursery  sofa,  behind  my  screen 
of  newspaper,  I    frequently  hear 


1 


\  4' ! 


» 


m  em 


I'M 

r 


M 

n 


98 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


more  than  is  suspected  by  the 
family. 

**  Mary,  you're  not  going  to  the 
rink  to-night ! "  in  Belle's  most 
imploring  tone. 

"  Yes,  mawm,  I  am.  Lend  me 
your  wrench,  Watty." 

"  Mary,  I  positively  forbid  you 
to  go  to  the  rink !  " 

'*  Well,  I  do  think  that's  just 
too  mean  for  anything.  Every 
girl  in  town  goes." 

**  Every  girl  in  town  doesn't 
skate  with  barber,  or  bandsman, 
or  anybody  who  comes  along,  as 
you  do." 

"  Watty's  been  telling  !  " 

'*  Watty  hasn't  been  telling  !  " 
broke  in  our  eldest  son  in  indig- 
nant protest,  which  he  further 
emphasized  by  going  out  and 
banging  the  door  after  him. 

"  And,  Mary,"  Belle  continued, 
"  are  you  engaged  to  Mr  Ax- 
worthy ?  " 

"  No  !  "  sullenly. 

"  Then  if  I  were  you  I  wouldn't 


■ 


If^M.' 


•I  • 


THK    MAKING    OF    MARV. 


99 


lued, 
Ax- 


dn't 


let  him  kiss  mc  when  he  r.ays 
*  Good-night '  at  the  door  after 
bringing  you  home  from  a  party." 

"  You're  old-fashioned.  All  the 
girls  do  it !  " 

"  No  lady  would  permit  a  man 
to  take  such  a  liberty.  You're 
spoiling  your  chances  with  Mr. 
Axworthy,  I  can  tell  you.  I 
never  knew  a  man  yet  that  vvould 
bind  himself  to  a  girl  when  he 
could  have  all  the  privileges  of  an 
engaged  man,  and  none  of  the 
responsibilities." 

"  I  don't  care  anything  at  all 
about  him.  I  don't  want  to  marry 
him.  He's  just  giving  me  a  good 
time." 

A  good  time  he  undoubtedly 
did  give  her  throughout  the  win- 
ter. To  the  smartest  balls  and 
parties  he  was  her  escort,  and  she 
always  wore  thfe  roses  he  never 
neglected  tc  send.  Every  Sun- 
day about  dusk  he  would  come 
round  to  our  house,  and,  martyrs 
to  a  good   cause,  Isabel,  mother, 


'MM 
'J 


\  lit 


m 


m 


I'll 

Cii 
ltd. 

'I  ^  i  ■ 


§\ 


IS 


lOO        THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


and  I  vacated  the  cozy  parlor  with 
its  easy  chairs  and  blazing  fire  for 
the  nursery — always  uproarious 
with  children  on  that  day. 

*  I  wonder  what  those  two  find 
to  talk  about,"  speculated  Belle. 
"  Mary  has  no  conversation  at  all, 
and  Axworthy  hasn't  much  more." 

*'  Perhaps  he  takes  it  out  in 
looking  at  her.  By  the  way,  Belle, 
when  are  you  going  to  appear  in 
the  new  dress  I  gave  you  that 
fifty  dollars  to  buy  ?  I  am  quite 
tired  of  the  mauve  tea  gown." 

My  wife  glanced  over  her 
shoulder  to  make  sure  that 
Grandma  was  out  of  hearing. 

"  The  truth  is,  Dave,  I  thought 
I  must  wait  to  see  how  much  of 
it  I  had  left  after  getting  Mary 
rigged  up  for  the  Robinsons* 
dance.  She  goes  out  so  often 
that  she  needs  a  dhange  of  even- 
ing dress." 

"  Did  she  ask  for  it  ?  " 

"  Not  directly,  but  she  remarked 
that  she  didn't  see  what  I  wanted 


i 


THE    MAKINc;    OF    MARY.         101 


)r  with 
fire  for 
)arious 

70  find 

Belle. 

at  all, 

more." 

out  in 

,  Belle, 

•ear  in 

Li   that 

quite 

1." 

r    her 
that 

ought 
ch  of 
Mary 

insons* 
often 
even- 


arked 
anted 


with  a  new  black  silk,  that  I  had 
plenty  of  clothes,  and  that  when 
she  was  my  age  she  didn't  think 
she'd  bother  about  what  she  had 
to  wear." 

I  sprang  up  from  the  sofa, 
prepared  to  shove  Mary  out  of  the 
house,  neck  and  crop,  but  Belle's 
outburst  of  lau  hter  calmed  me. 

"  Her  cheek  is  so  great  that  it 
passes  from  the  ridiculous  to  the 
sublime ! " 

"  Why  do  you  stand  it.  Belle  ? 
You  wouldn't  from  anybody  else." 

"  I  can't  very  well  go  back  on 
her  at  this  stage,  and  send  her 
about  her  business.  She's  shrewd 
enough  to  know  that." 

"  People  would  laugh ;  that's 
so ! 

"  Besides,  if  she  marries  Ax- 
worthy, she'll  be  our  social  equal 
here  in  this  town,  and  it  must 
never  be  in  her  power  to  say  that 
we  did  not  treat  her  well." 

**  What  is  the  prospect  with 
Axworthy?" 


1 


I  lit 
t   * 


. 


102 


THK    MAKINC.    OK    MARY. 


M 


1! 


MP 


"  Good,  T  think.  He  is 
thoroughly  kind  to  her,  and  he 
has  given  me  plenty  of  liints 
about  the  state  of  his  affections, 
hopes  by  another  winter  that 
Mary  will  have  somebody  else  to 
look  after  her,  and  so  on.  He  is 
always  most  particular  in  seeing 
that  she  is  well  wrapped  up,  and 
that  is  highly  necessary,  for  she  is 
extremely  careless  about  how  she 
goes  out.  In  spite  of  a  certain 
amount  of  physical  dash,  she  isn't  a 
bit  strong  ;  has  no  staying  power." 

"It  won't  be  much  fun  for 
Axworthy  to  be  saddled  with  a 
delicate  wife." 

"  Well,  I  guess  he  needs  some 
discipline,  just  as  much  as  I  do. 
I've  had  my  share  out  of  Miss 
Mary  for  the  last  three  years,  and 
I  am  quite  willing  to  let  some- 
body else  have  a  turn.  He  walks 
into  this  thing  Avith  his  eyes  open. 
He  knows  her  history." 

"  But  docs  he  know  her  dispo- 
sition?" 


■';«■: 


I'ri. 


THE   MAKING    OF    MARY.        103 


for 


"  Let  him  find  that  out — if  he 
can.  Most  mothers  don't  think 
it  necessary  to  tell  their  daughters' 
suitors  how  the  girls  get  on  with 
them  in  the  house." 

**  You  say  she  has  no  constitu- 
tion. Supposing  he  does  marry 
her,  how  about  the  possible  chil- 
dren ?  What  have  they  done  that 
they  should  have  Mary  for  a 
mother?" 

**  That's  exactly  the  right  way 
to  put  it — what  have  they  done  ? 
We  don't  know,  but  they  must 
have  gone  far  astray  last  time,  if 
they  are  given  such  a  bad  start 
this  incarnation." 

Will  Axworthy  left  town  in  the 
spring.  Lumber  was  done  in  our 
part  of  Michigan  and  he  had  to 
follow  it  further  south.  He  and 
Mary  corresponded,  for  I  caught 
Belle  in  the  act  of  correcting  one 
of  her  letters. 

**  Do  you  think  that's  quite  fair 
to  Axworthy?  If  they  become 
engaged,  the  first  unedited  letter 


.J 


r 


'  ill 


■' 


S&r     J 


k;  ■■',■ 


104        THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 

he  gets  from  Mary  will  be   con- 
siderable of  a  surprise  to  him." 

"  Don't  you  bother  your  old 
head,  Dave !  I'm  running  this 
thing !  He's  arranging  to  meet 
us  in  Chicago,  and  hopes  to  have 
the  pleasure  of  showing  Mary  the 
Columbian  Exhibition.  Some- 
thing is  sure  to  happen  while 
we're  there ! " 


1^ 


(?.-( 


»»• 


4 


"*^^ 


i   con- 

ir  old 
I  this 
meet 
>  have 
ry  the 
Some- 
while 


CHAPTER  VI. 

LL  winter  we  had  been 
talking  about  the  Fair, 
reading  up  about  the 
Fair,  making  plans  for 
the  Fair ;  and  Belle  de- 
clared that  even  if  she  never  saw 
the  Fair  she  would  be  glad  it  had 
been,  on  account  of  the  amount 
of  preparatory  information  she 
had  laid  up. 

We  did  get  off  at  last  in  the 
end  of  June,  the  whole  of  us,  in- 
cluding Mary,  of  course — my  first 
experience  of  traveling  in  her 
company.  We  went  to  Chicago 
by  boat, — a  night's  crossing, — and 
a  rare  time  I  had  securing  berths 
for  the  family  in  the  overcrowded 
propeller.     I  was  thankful  for  an 


If 

'  •'•tiifci 
t  It 

I 
r 

•  •id 


m 


1 06 


Th       MAKING    OF    MARY. 


n<  1 


i? 


i\)i, 


E») 


H* 


v\ 


C«v,t 

-It 


I    f. 


^iit 


4* 

•'■' 

*  ]  !  ! 


[ 


•'  extension,"  a  sort  of  shell  run 
out  between  two  staterooms  and 
partitioned  off  by  curtains  and 
poles.  The  boys  had  to  sleep  on 
sofas,  floor,  anywhere,  which  to 
them  war>  but  the  beginning  of 
the  fun. 

The  first  of  my  Herculean 
labors  at  an  end,  I  was  enjoying 
my  smoke  aft  in  the  cool  of  the 
evening,  when  Belle  came  back  to 
me,  her  brow  drawn  up  into  what 
I  had  begun  to  call  the  "  Mary 
wrinkle." 

"  David,  I'm  afraid  you'll  have 
to  talk  to  that  girl.  She's  sitting 
up  in  the  bow  there  flirting  with 
one  of  the  waiters,  and  though 
I've  sent  Watty  twice  after  her, 
she  won't  stir.'* 

As  majestically  as  my  five  feet 
four  would  permit,  I  moved  to  the 
front  of  the  boat. 

"  Mary,  Mrs.  Gemmell  wants 
you  right  away." 

She  took  time  to  exchange  a 
laughing  farewell  with  the  good- 


Y. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


107 


lel!  run 
ms  and 
ins  and 
leep  on 
bich  to 
ling   of 

rculean 
n  joying 
.  of  the 
back  to 
o  what 
''  Mary 

11  have 
sitting 
g  with 
though 
er  her, 

/e  feet 
to  the 

wants 

mge  a 
good- 


looking  waiter,  and  explained  to 
me  en  route  : 

"  That's  Bill  Moreland.  I  knew 
him  quite  well  in  Lake  City.  I've 
met  him  at  balls." 

In  the  morning  before  we 
reached  Chicago,  she  managed  to 
get  in  a  long  confabulation  with 
another  waiter,  whom  I  am  sure 
she  had  never  met  in  Lake  City, 
nor  anywhere  else. 

''  See  here,  Mary  !  If  this  is  the 
way  you're  going  to  behave,  you 
go  straight  back  to  Lake  City  on 
that  boat,  and  don't  see  one  bit 
of  the  Fair." 

Her  manners  were  mended  till 
we  were  actually  in  Jackson  Park, 
but  then  : 

"She's  a  philanthropist.  Belle, 
a  lover  of  mankind — Columbian 
Guard,  Gospel  Charioteer,  Turk 
in  the  bazaar.  The  creed  or  the 
color  doesn't  matter  so  long  as  he 
calls  himself  a  man." 

I  am  afraid  I  was  cross,  for  it 
did  not  take  one  day  to  realize 


1J 

4: 


'UP' 


■•If 


4 


•  'ill 


io8 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


i 


\ir  i'' 


what  an  undertaking  it  was  going 
to  be  to  keep  track  of  my  family, 
who  had  never  before  seemed  too 
numerous.  Daily  at  lo  A.  M.,  in 
the  Michigan  Building,  did  I  hand 
over  to  Will  Axworthy  the  most 
troublesome  of  the  lot,  and  daily 
did  I  wish  he  would  keep  her  for 
better  or  worse. 

On  the  Fourth  of  July  can- 
nonading began  at  daybreak,  and 
for  once  I  sympathized  in  my 
mother's  objection  to  the  license 
accorded  to  young  Americans. 
They  set  off  firecrackers,  not  by 
the  bunch  but  by  the  bushel ; 
kerosene  and  dynamite  were  their 
ambrosia  and  nectar.  What  with 
fighting  for  lunch  in  overcrowded 
restaurants,  and  then  retaliating 
by  'Stealing  chairs  out  of  the  same, 
hunting  through  the  various 
booths  in  the  Midway  to  collect 
my  three  younger  sons  when  it 
was  time  to  send  them  home,  and 
rescuing  my  two  little  girls  from 
an  over-supply  of  ice  cream  sodas 


RY. 

as  going 
y  family, 
imed  too 
A.  M.,  in 
d  I  hand 
:he  most 
nd  daily 
3  her  for 

Lily  can- 
eak,  and 
in  my 
'■  license 
lericans. 

not  by 
bushel ; 
;re  their 
lat  with 
;rowded 
aliating 
e  same, 
various 

collect 
vhen  it 
ne,  and 
Is  from 
(I  sodas 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY.         109 

and  chocolate  drops,  I  did  not 
specially  enjoy  the  glorious 
Fourth. 

Toward  evening  there  was  not 
a  foot  of  Fair  ground  undeco- 
rpted  by  a  banana  skin,  a  crust  of 
bread,  or  a  flying  paper.  Belle 
considered  the  signs  "  Keep  off 
the  Grass"  quite  superfluous,  and 
pulling  one  up  by  the  roots  she 
sat  down  on  it,  thereby  keeping 
th'i  letter,  if  not  the  spirit  of  the 
law. 

"  Now,  Dave,"  said  she,  "  the 
family  are  all  safe  off  the  grounds, 
and  you  can  go  and  get  a  gondola 
to  come  and  take  us  for  a  sail  be- 
fore dark.  Everybody  is  moving 
toward  the  lake  front  to  wait  for 
the  fireworks,  and  the  lagoons  are 
not  so  crowded  as  they  were. 
Let's  pretend  we're  on  our  honey- 
moon." 

So  seldom  does  Belle  wax  senti- 
mental over  me,  I  hailed  her  prop- 
osition with  outward  indifference 
but  inward  joy.     Securing  a  gon- 


1 

"Vim 
■•■0 


$\ 

''  "If  j 
iHll 


I 


^•<4\\\ 


Hi 


m^' 


Ik 


i 


1 1. 


no        THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 

dola  to  ourselves,  in  it  we  were 
gently  swayed  through  canal  and 
under  bridge  in  the  mystical  even- 
ing light. 

The  distant  rumble  of  a  train  on 
the  Intramural,  or  a  quack  from 
a  sleepy  duck  among  the  rushes, 
alone  broke  the    cillness. 

"This  is  where  I  belong  !  "  ex- 
claimed Belle.  "  I've  seen  before 
those  Eastern-looking  towers  and 
minarets,  with  the  sunset  glow  on 
the  cloud  masses  behind  them. 
Look  !  there's  a  Turk  and  a  Hin- 
doo crossing  the  bridge.  This 
is  the  region,  this  the  soil,  the 
clime.  I  always  knew  I  wasn't 
meant  for  Western  America." 

"  You  must  have  been  very 
naughty  /as^  time  to  have  been 
raised  in  Michigan  this  trip.  Still 
this  is  only  Chicago !  " 

"  It's  not  Chicago  !  It's  the 
world  !  Listen  to  that  now — the 
music  of  the  spheres  !  " 

We  approached  another  gon- 
dola   that   had    withdrawn    itself 


iat-sL 


THF-    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


I  I  I 


from  the  center  of  the  channel 
close  in  to  a  small  island.  The 
man  at  the  stern  was  doing  noth- 
ing very  picturesquely,  but  the 
man  at  the  bow,  a  swarthy  Vene- 
tian, was  pouring  out  his  soul  in  an 
aria  from  "  Cavalleria  Rusticana." 
His  voice  might  not  have  passed 
muster  at  Covent  Garden,  but  in 
the  unique  stage  setting,  which 
included  a  group  of  eager  listeners 
on  abridge  behind  him,  one  could 
forgive  a  break  on  a  high  note  or 
two. 

The  singer  threw  himself  into 
the  spirit  of  the  composition,  cast 
his  eyes  upward  with  hand  on  his 
heart,  and  bent  them  to  earth 
again  for  the  approval  of  his  pas- 
sengers. There  were  but  two,  a 
young  man  and  a  young  lady,  and 
to  the  latter  was  the  hero  in 
costume  directing  his  amorous 
glances. 

"  There's  romance  for  you  !  " 
said  I  to  Belle,  who  is  notoriously 
on  the  lookout  for  it.     I  directed 


1) 


■yfi 


VA 


f 


Hi 

•'•Hi 

up 


.  if 


■'■'ii' 


ijil 


1*411 


v 


112        THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


our  gondolier  to  draw  nearer  to 
his  enamoured  compatriot.  My 
wife  replied   uneasily : 

**  I  don't  know  the  man,  or  boy, 
for  that's  all  he  is,  but  if  that  isn't 
Mary's  hat " 

"Mary!  Phew!  What's  be- 
come  ^Axworthy?" 

As  we  approached  the  comfort- 
able-looking pair,  Mary  bowed  to 
us  smilingly,  and  called  the  atten- 
tion of  her  companion  to  her 
"  father  and  mother  " — darn  her 
impudence  ! 

The  boat  ride  was  spoiled  for 
Belle  and  me,  our  white  elephant 
having  arisen  to  haunt  us  once 
more.  We  landed  and  walked 
over  to  the  lake  front,  where  the 
whole  slope  was  packed  with 
people  waiting  for  the  fireworks 
to  begin. 

Someone  started  to  sing  "  Way 
Down  upon  the  Swanee  Rib- 
ber,"  and  everybody  joined  in. 
**  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee  "  was 
also    most   impressive    from    the 


ih 


THK    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


"3 


sarer  to 
ot.     My 

,  or  boy, 
hat  isn't 

at's    be- 

comfort- 
owed  to 
le  atten- 
to  her 
arn   her 

)iled  for 
elephant 
us  once 

walked 
lere  the 
with 

reworks 

"Way 
e    Rib- 
ned    in. 
e  "  was 
Dm    the 


vast  impromptu  chorus.  In  the 
foreground  Lake  Michigan  lay 
darkly  expectant,  with  a  large 
black  cloud  upon  its  horizon, 
though  the  stars  shone  overhead. 
A  half-circle  of  boats  extended 
from  the  long  Exhibition  Wharf 
on  the  right,  round  to  the  war- 
ship Illinois  on  the  left,  and  from 
the  latter  a  search  light,  an  omni- 
present eye,  swept  the  crowd  with 
rapidly  veering  glance,  till  it  con- 
centrated its  gaze  on  the  dark 
balloon  which  rose  so  mysteriously 
from  the  water.  Suddenly  from 
this  balloon  was  suspended  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  in  colored  lights. 
The  crowd  cheered  like  mad,  the 
boats  whistled,  and  sent  up 
rockets  galore. 

On  went  the  programme. 
Bombs  tested  the  strength  of  our 
wearied  ear-drums,  fiery  snakes 
sizzled  through  the  air,  big  wheels 
spurted  brilliant  marvels,  and 
along  the  very  edge  of  the  lake,  to 
the  great  discomfort  of  the  front 


ii 


■3 

i 

.ti|{ 


%■ 
■nf 

■■'■%* 


4 


I  Hi 


114 


THE    MAKINC;    OK    MARY. 


11 


M '   .,' 


w^- 


i 


rows  of  the  stalls,  a  line  of  com- 
bustibles behaved  like  gigantic 
footlights  on  a  spree. 

"David,  who  do  you  suppose 
that  was  with  Mary?" 

I  had  been  up  in  the  air  with 
George  Washington,  surrounded 
by  '*  First  in  War,  First  in  Peace, 
etc.,"  in  letters  of  fire,  and  I  was 
unwillingly  recalled  to  earth. 

"  Haven't  the  remotest  idea. 
Hope  she  hasn't  given  Axworthy 
the  slip." 

**  I'm  only  hoping  that  he  has 
not  given  her  the  slip.  I'd  never 
have  brought  her  to  the  Fair  if  he 
hadn't  agreed  to  look  after  her." 

At  that  moment  there  was  a 
surging  of  the  mighty  crowd, 
caused  by  a  band  of  college 
students  pushmg  their  way 
through,  shoulder  to  shoulder, 
singing  one  of  their  rousing  ditties. 
Some  people  who  had  been  stand- 
ing on  their  hired  rolling  chairs 
had  narrow  escapes  from  being 
flung  upon  the  shoulders  of  those 


THK    MAKINC;    OF    MARY. 


1*5 


in  front.  Some  did  not  escape 
— Mary  for  instance,  who  landed 
between  us  as  if  shot  from  a  cata- 
pult. 

**  I  knew  I  was  going  to  fall,  so 
I  just  jumped  to  where  I  seen  you 
two,"  said  she,  with  her  customary 
calmness,  and  then  she  turned  to 
assure  her  escort  of  the  gondola, 
who  was  anxiously  elbowing  his 
way  to  her,  that  she  was  entirely 
unhurt. 

Blushing  prettily,  she  intro- 
duced the  lad  as  "Mr.  Tom 
Axworthy — cousin  of  the  Mr.  Ax- 
worthy you  know." 

Mr.  Tom  talked  to  Mrs.  Gem- 
mell  with  the  ease  and  assurance 
of  ninety  rather  than  nineteen, 
while  I  exchanged  a  few  words 
aside  with  the  maiden  : 

"Where  is  the  Mr.  Axworthy 
that  we  know?  ** 

"  He  had  some  business  to  do  in 
town  to-night,  so  he  left  me  in 
charge  of  this  cousin  of  his — just  a 
lovely  fellow! " 


T) 


I 


M 

Hi 


I 


m 


n 


ii6 


THF.    MAKING    OK    MARY. 


»l;i;!- 

»!'/-■  • 


'  t.l 


kfy 
Mil 


,«' 


f    1 


f 


■lit 


"Humph!  Introduced  you  to 
any  more  of  his  relations?" 

•'  Oh,  yes — an  uncle  ;  quite  an 
old  bachelor,  but  lovely  too  !  " 

"  And  I  suppose  you've  been 
round  with  the  uncle  as  well." 

*'  Not  very  much.  lie  was  to 
have  taken  me  up  in  the  bal- 
loon yesterday,  but  the  cyclone 
burst  it." 

"We're  going  home  now,  and  I 
think  yOu'd  better  say  *  Good- 
night '  to  Mr.  Tom  Axworthy  and 
come  with  us." 

After  waiting  two  hours  and  a 
half  for  standing  room  on  a  sub- 
urban train,  we  reached  the  hotel 
at  an  early  hour  on  July  the  5th, 
dusty,  smoke-stained,  and  powder- 
scented,  like  veterans  from  a  field 
of  battle. 

That  was  not  by  any  means 
the  last  of  Mr.  Tom  Axworthy. 
During  the  remainder  of  our  stay 
in  Chicago  it  was  he  quite  as  fre- 
quently as  his  more  mature  and 
eligible  cousin  who  exchanged  a 


|M: 


r. 


THE    MAKINfi    OF    MARY. 


117 


you  to 


uite  an 
o! 

'e  been 
ell." 
was  to 
:he   bal- 
cyclone 

IV,  and  I 

*  Good- 

rthy  and 

rs  and  a 

n  a  sub- 

e  hotel 

he  5th, 

Dowder- 

n  a  field 

means 
:worthy. 
our  stay 

as  fre- 
ure  and 
anged  a 


lingering  farewell  with  Mary  at 
the  ladies*  entrance  to  our  hotel, 
and  a  great  fear  arose  in  the  heart 
of  Belle  that  the  young  woman 
was  fooling  away  her  time  with 
this  impecunious  boy,  instead  of 
making  the  most  of  her  oppor- 
tunities to  come  to  a  satisfactory 
understanding  with  his  cousin. 
Every  morning  did  she  gaze 
pathetically  into  my  face,  saying  : 

"  I  do  hope  Axworthy  will  pro- 
pose to-day ! "  and  once  she 
added : 

"  I  cannot  face  another  winter 
in  the  same  house  with  that  girl 
and  your  mother.  Grandma  has 
taken  it  into  her  head  that  Mary 
is  my  pet  lamb,  the  idol  of  my 
heart,  for  whom  she,  and  you  too, 
have  been  set  aside.  She  doesn't 
see  that  it  worries  me  half  to 
death  to  have  Mary  tagging 
round  after  me  the  whole  time, 
and  overrunning  the  house  with 
her  beaux.  Neither  of  our  own 
girls   is   old    enough    yet,   thank 


ail 


I 


at. 


:t:1'; 


1 

Mm 


1N» 


I 


III 


Hi 


.4"" 


••^  : .., 


I 


r 


linijiiii 


■I'',. 


►  IM. 


it8 


THK    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


goodness,  to  consider  herself  my 
companion  and  equal,  to  wear  my 
gloves,  my  boots,  my  best  hair- 
pins, and  to  use  my  favorite  per- 
fume ;  to  come  and  plant  herself 
down  beside  me  whenever  I'm 
talking  confidentially  to  anyone, 
to  be  determined  to  have  her 
finger  into  every  pie,  to  know 
what  I'm  reading  or  thinking 
about.  She'll  insist  on  knowing 
my  dreams  next !  " 

"  Perhaps  you  mesmerize  her." 

**  If  I  did,  I'd  make  her  keep 
away  from  me !  I  could  stand 
it  all  better  if  I  thought  she 
really  cared  a  straw  for  me,  but 
I  have  the  feeling  that  she  re- 
gards me  merely  as  a  basis  for 
supplies." 

"  We  can  only  trust,  then,  that 
the  basis  may  be  speedily  trans- 
ferred to  Axworthy !  " 

On  our  return  from  the  World's 
Fair,  the  family  stopped  off  at 
Interlaken,  but  I  had  to  go  on 
into  town  to  the  £c/io  ofifice.     To 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


119 


If  my 
ar  my 

hair- 
e  per- 
lerself 
r  I'm 
iyone, 
e   her 

know 
inking 
owing 

:  her." 

-  keep 

stand 

she 

e,  but 

le  re- 

s   for 

I,  that 
trans- 

''orld's 
off  at 
zo  on 
To 


my  surprise,  Mary  joined  me  at 
my  solitary  dinner  at  the  "  House 
of  the  Seven  Gables,"  where  Mar- 
garet, as  usual,  was  in  charge,  and 
she  remained  there  for  the  rest  of 
the  week. 

"Where's  Mary?"  was  Belle's 
greeting,  when  I  joined  her  on 
Saturday. 

'*  She's  in  town." 

**  Why  didn't  you  bring  her  out 
with  you  ?  " 

'*  Didn't  know  you  wanted  her. 
She  said  she'd  like  to  stay  in  Lake 
City  over  Sunday,  to  take  the 
Communion." 

"  Take  the  Communion  indeed  ! 
She  wants  to  be  left  there  alone 
with  Margaret,  so  that  she'll  have 
a  chance  to  flirt  with  every  man 
in  town.  I  thought  you  had  more 
sense,  David." 

1  pulled  my  soft  felt  hat  further 
over  my  diminished  head. 

"  Did  she  get  any  letters  ?" 

'  One  or  two." 

'*  Wretch  !  I    told  her  to  come 


•»•'•! 


m 

1- 

ti:i< 

1 

ri 

1! 

1 

Hi 

w  '• 

rk 

U 

|!i 

! 

*-4w. 


r 


'Hill 


I    ''l 


Nil., 


11       I 


I20        THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 

out  here  with  you  to-night  for 
certain." 

Monday  morning,  mother,  who 
had  been  spending  the  summer 
with  my  married  sister  in  Lake 
City,  came  out  to  stay  for  a  week 
with  us  at  Interlaken. 

She  could  hardly  wait  till  the 
youngsters  were  out  of  hearing  to 
pour  her  story  into  my  ears.  I 
had  to  take  back  to  town  the 
train  by  which  she  had  come  out, 
but  she  made  the  most  of  her 
time. 

"  There's  been  great  doin*s  in 
yer  hoose  in  yer  absence.  Mar- 
g'et  *s  been  tellin*  yer  sister's  serv- 
ant a*  aboot  Mary's  luv  affairs. 
Mary  tell't  her  'at  Eesabelle  bade 
her  write  Willum  Axworthy  an* 
spier  his  intentions;  that  if  she 
didna,  Mrs.  Davvit  said  she'd  d'it 
hersel'.  An*  a'  the  time  she's  cor- 
respondin'  wi'  a  yunger  ane,  an 
Axworthy  tae,  'at  she  tells  Mar- 
g'et  she  likes  a  hape  better.  Yer 
sister's  sair  affronted  to  think  o' 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY.         121 


the  w'y  the  fem'ly  name's  bein* 
cairted  thro'  the  mire." 

Belle  came  out  on  the  veranda, 
her  broad  hat  in  her  hand,  ready 
to  walk  down  to  the  train  with 
me. 

"  So  Axworthy  didn't  propose 
at  the  Fair  ?  "  said  I,  when  we  were 
out  of  earshot  of  the  cottage. 

"  No  ;  and  I  think  it's  a  crying 
shame,  too,  after  the  way  he  ap- 
propriated the  girl  all  last  winter, 
and  in  Chicago  too." 

"A  great  relief  to  you  !  Well, 
I  guess  the  whole  town  knows  by 
this  time  that  you  made  Mary 
write  and  ask  his  intentions." 

"  This  is  too  much  !  Has  your 
mother- " 

"  Mary's  been  making  a  con- 
fidante of  Margaret,  that's  all. 
That  inestimable  domestic  is  so 
much  one  of  ourselves,  it  was  hard 
for  the   unsophisticated   mind  to 

know  exactly  where  to  draw  the 

1'      >» 
me. 

"  I  hope  she  has  drawn  the  line 


-A 


mm 


m 


ll'll 


IIIIH^IJ 


II 


PJ'       .1 


Miiiii,; 


122         THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 

at  showing  Margaret  his  reply.  I 
haven't  seen  tha:  myself." 

"  What  can  you  expect  it  to  be  ? 
If  he  had  wanted  to  marry  the 
girl  there  was  nothing  to  prevent 
him  asking  her,  and  if  he  did  not, 
no  letter  of  yours  would  make 
him  want  to." 

"  She  wrote  it  herself,  and  all 
she  said  was  that  she  would  like 
to  know  definitely  how  she  stood 
with  him.  I  did  nothing  but  cor- 
rect the  spelling." 

"  Better  if  you  had  written  in 
your  own  name,  and  without  her 
knowledge.  No  daughter  of  the 
house  would  ever  have  been  put 
in  such  a  position.  So  far  as  I 
can  judge,  Mary  and  Mr.  Will 
Axworthy  are  quits.  If  he  has 
had  a  good  time  in  her  society, 
she  has  had  an  equally  good  time 
in  his,  and  he  does  not  enjoy  her 
letters  so  much  as  he  did  her  pro- 
pinquity." 

"  He's  a  cold-hearted,  coward- 
ly " 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


123 


-ply-  I 

t  to  be  ? 
rry  the 
prevent 
iid  not, 
I   make 

and  all 
lid  like 
*  stood 
Dut  cor- 

itten  in 
Dut  her 

of  the 
en  put 
ar  as  I 
ir.  Will 
he  has 
lociety, 
)d  time 
joy  her 

er  pro- 


"Tut!  tut!  my  dear!" 
By  this  time  we  were  on  the 
platform,  and  the  engine  was 
backing  its  one  car  down  to  re- 
ceive me  and  the  other  unhappy 
toilers  compelled  to  go  away  and 
leave  that  sapphire-blue  lake  be- 
hind. 

"  Don't  you  think,  Isabel,  that 
it's  about  time  you  quit  trying  to 
play  Providence  and  gave  God  a 
chance  ?  " 

"  Dave !  you're  blasphemous  !  " 
"  No,  I'm  not.  I  only  wish  to 
remark  that  in  your  schemes  for 
the  welfare  of  one  particular 
person,  you  are  apt  to  overlook 
the  comfort  and  happiness  of 
everyone  else  concerned.  That's 
the  worst  of  not  being  omniscient. 
You're  only  an  amateur  sort  of  a 
deity  after  all." 

"  Send  that  girl  out  here  by  the 
very  next  train."     And  I  obeyed. 


•JM 


■i;"l 


oward- 


CHAPTER  VII. 


\t^\ 


*l* 


ftostii 


»•* . 


iillll 


■.'.1$ 

*• 


t#     I':. 


fer 


MiMi 


NOTHER  week  of  night 
work,  and  then  the  sun- 
niest of  Sundays  on 
the  shore  of  old  Lake 
Michigan. 
I  noticed  that  Mary  was  in  deep 
disgrace  with  my  wife,  who  would 
hardly  speak  to  her,  and  I  judged 
therefore  that  Mr.  Will  Axworthy 
had  not  been  brought  to  time. 

I  am  not  a  venturesome  boat- 
man, and  generally  confine  my 
aquatic  outings  to  the  smaller  lake, 
but  that  Saturday  night  there  was 
not  a  breath  of  wind,  and  the 
water  was  placidity  personified,  so 
I  drifted  in  my  small  skiff  through 
the  channel  that  connects  the 
smaller  with  the  larger   body  of 


ip 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


125 


f  night 
be  sun- 
lys  on 
■    Lake 

in  deep 
'  would 
judged 
worthy 
me. 

)  boat- 
tie  my 
erlake, 
jre  was 
id  the 
fied,  so 
1  rough 
ts  the 
)dy  of 


water.  On  the  sandy  point  jutting 
out  at  the  mouth,  upon  an  old 
stump,  sat  a  solitary  maiden,  the 
picture  of  woe. 

*'  Hello,  Mary  !  "  said  I,  ignor- 
ing the  tears ;  "  want  to  go  for  a 
boat  ride  ?  " 

"  I  don't  care  if  I  do,"  she 
replied,  seating  herself  in  the  stern, 
which  I  turned  toward  her. 

Silently  I  pulled  out  into  the 
big  lake,  where  the  copper-colored 
sun  going  down  in  a  haze  near  the 
horizon  bade  us  beware  of  a  hot 
day  on  the  morrow.  Out  of  the 
lake  to  the  ri<jht  rose  the  full 
moon,  failing  as  yet  to  make  her 
.  gentle  influence  felt  against  the 
radiant  glow  the  sun  was  leaving 
behind  him. 

"  So  Axworthy's  gone  back  on 
you,  Mary  ?  " 

The  fountains  played  again. 

"Yes  ;  and  it  aint  the  first  time 
I've  got  left,  neither." 

With  Mrs.  Mason,  the  Ferguson 
Family,  Lincoln  Todd,  and  young 


I 


in' 


h 
[> 


h 


l'»D 


'^4111 


mi:,    .iilf 


I 


m 


w% 


126        THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 

Flaker  on  the  tablets  of  my  mind, 
I  could  truthfully  assent  to  that 
remark. 

"Still,  it  may  be  just  the  mak- 
ing of  you  in  the  long  run." 

"  I'm  not  breakin'  my  heart  over 
Will  Axworthy  ;  didn't  care  noth- 
ing 'tall  'bout  him,  on'y  I'd  got 
used  havin*  him  round,  and  I'd 
have  married  h  m  if  he  asked  me. 
I  think  a  sight  more  of  his 
cousin." 

"  The  boy  we  saw  at  the  Fair  ?  " 

"  Yes.  He's  written  me  a  lovely 
letter.  Would  you  mind  reading 
it  aloud  to  me  ?  Some  of  the  big 
words  I  couldn't  make  out,  and 
neither  could  Margaret.  I  wrote 
him  all  myself !  " 

Never  before  had  it  fallen  to  my 
lot  to  play  father  confessor  to  a 
lady  in  love  difificulties,  but  the 
editorial  mind  is  equal  to  any 
emergency,  so  I  let  my  oars  slide 
and  adjusted  my  re^d  ng-glasses 
to  peruse  Mary's  precious  epistle. 

When    I  had   read   on   to   the 


y  mind, 
to  that 

le  mak- 

• 

art  over 
re  noth- 

rd  got 
and  I'd 
ked  me. 

of     his 

t  Fair  ?  " 

;  a  lovely 

reading 

the  big 

out,  and 

1  wrote 

n  to  my 

sor  to  a 

but  the 

to  any 
ars  slide 

■glasses 

epistle. 

to   the 


I 


THE    MAKlNfl    OF    MARY. 


127 


signature.  **  Your  devoted  lover 
'Torn,'"  Mary's  face  was  radiant. 

"  Aint  he  smart  ?  You  know  lie 
was  at  the  Fair,  reporting  for  a 
newspaper." 

"  That  explains  his  glibness. 
Don't  have  anything  to  do  with 
him,  Mary.  He's  just  trying  to 
draw  you  on.  The  burnt  6.og 
should  ('     ad  the  fire." 

"  But  he  admires  me,  don't 
he?" 

"  He  says  so,  but  he  is  much 
more  anxious  that  you  should 
admire  him.  Why,  it's  part  of  his 
business  to  keep  his  hand  in  by 
being  in  love,  or  rather  by  having 
some  silly  little  fool  of  a  girl  in 
love  with  him.  You'll  just  get 
left  again  if  you  encourage  this 
young  scamp." 

April  showers  once  more. 

"I  think  the  best  thing  I  can 
do  is  to  jump  overboard  here  into 
Lake  Michigan.  It  don't  seem  to 
me  I'm  wanted  anywheres." 

"  That  might  do  very  well,  but 


128 


THK    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


MMli) 


'!#'■ 


,:  t 


^>M 


you're  too  good  a  swimmer  to 
drown  easily,  and  you'd  catch  on 
to  my  boat  and  upset  me.  I  can't 
swim  a  stroke,  and  there'd  be 
five — six  young  Gemmells  and  a 
widow  and  a  mother  cast  upon  the 
world.  No,  we'll  have  to  think  of 
something  better  than  that." 

Mary's  laughter  was  always 
quick  on  the  heels  of  her  tears. 

"What  do  you  think  I'm  good 
for,  anyhow  ?  " 

"  I  can  testify  that  you're  not  a 
success  as  a  housekeeper." 

"  Nor  a  nursemaid." 

"  And  as  a  lady's  companion 
you're  not  all  that  could  be  de- 
sired, even  if  there  were  a  demand 
for  the  article  in  West  Michigan." 

"  As  a  gentleman's  companion 
I  am  all  right,"  and  the  girl 
showed  her  perfect  teeth  in  a 
smile. 

**  It's  no  joking  matter,  Mary. 
You're  not  very  happy  in  our 
house,  and  things  will  be  worse 
for  you  next  winter,  with  no  Will 


nmer   to 
:atch  on 

I  can't 
ere'd  be 
Is  and  a 
upon  the 
think  of 
at. 

always 
tears, 
'm  good 

're  not  a 


impanion 
be  de- 
demand 
chigan.** 
mpanion 
the  girl 
th   in    a 


THE    MAKING    OK    MARV 


129 


r,  Mary, 
in   our 
fce  worse 
no  Will 


Axworthy  coming  to  sec  you,  and 
no  engagement  to  him  in  prospect. 
What  do  you  think  yourself  that 
you're  fit  for — putting  reciting 
and  cornet  phiying  out  of  the 
question  ?  " 

The  young  lady  rested  her  chin 
on  the  palm  of  her  hand  and 
composed  her  face  into  a  bewitch- 
ing expression  of  profound  medi- 
tation. 

**  I  can't  teach,  and  I  can't  sew, 
and  I  can't  cook.  I  couldn't 
bear  sitting  still  all  day  at  a  type- 
writer, and  there's  no  room  in  the 
telephone  office.  You  know 
quite  well  that  there  aint  a  thing 
for  girls  like  me  to  do  but  to  get 
married.  That's  why  God  made 
us  pretty,  so's  we'd  have  a  good 
chance." 

"  Don't  be  flippant,  miss.  How 
do  you  think  you'd  like  to  be  an 
hospital  nurse  ?  " 

"  I  dunno ;  I  wouldn't  mind 
trying.  I'm  generally  good  to 
folks — when  they're   sick — and  I 


'M' 


.ll(< 


130 


THK    MAKINT,    OF    MARY. 


•I 


'^m 


aitit  a  bit  scared  of  dirty  nor  of 
dead  ones.  I  laid  out  an  old 
woman  that  died  in  the  Refuge." 

"  You're  not  particularly  thin- 
skinned,  that's  a  fact ;  but  it's  the 
educational  qualification  I'd  be 
afraid  of.  There's  some  sort  of 
an  examination  to  be  passed 
before  you  can  get  into  any  of 
these  Training  Schools  nowadays. 
I'll  write  for  some  forms  of  appli- 
cation, and  we'll  see.  If  once 
you  were  able  to  support  your- 
self, you'd  think  very  differently 
about  marrying  anybody  that 
turned  up,  just  for  the  sake  of  a 
home.  Ours  mayn't  be  much  of 
a  one  for  you,  but  marry  to  get 
out  of  it,  and  you'll  perhaps  find 
yourself  out  of  the  frying-pan  into 
the  fire." 

"  I  think  it  would  be  just  lovely 
to  be  a  nurse !  There  was  one 
came  down  from  Chicago  when 
Mrs.  Wade  was  sick,  and  the  uni- 
form was  awfully  pretty.  I'm 
sure  it  would  suit  me." 


THK    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


131 


nor  of 
in  old 
fuge. 
r  thin- 
t's  the 
['d  be 
5ort  of 
passed 
iny  of 
^adays. 

appli- 
'    once 

your- 
erently 
/  that 
:e  of  a 
luch  of 
to  get 
ps  find 
an  into 

lovely 
las   one 
when 
he  uni- 
I'm 


*'  It  would  be  very  becoming,  I 
haven't  any  doubt  of  that ;  and 
when  it's  all  settled  that  you  are 
going  to  an  hospital  you  can 
write  in  reply  to  Will  Axworthy's 
last  letter." 

"  He  wanted  me  to  keep  on 
writing  to  him  just  the  same  ;  said 
he'd  like  always  to  be  good  friends 
with  me." 

"  I  wouldn't  write  him  but  once 
again,  and  do  it  all  by  yourself. 
Just  say  that  the  reason  you 
wrote  the  other  letter,  asking  how 
you  stood  with  him,  was  that  you 
had  been  thinking  of  leaving  us 
altogether,  but  before  taking  the 
decided  step  of  entering  an  hos- 
pital, you  had  thought  it  only 
fair  to  him  to  give  him  the  chance 
to  object,  if  he  really  had  the 
objections  he  had  led  you  to 
take  for  granted." 

We  heard  a  shouting  and  a 
blowing  of  tin  horns  upon  the 
beach  at  this  juncture.  I  took 
the  oars  and    pulled    in,   seeing 


132        THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


u*wr 


'**"' 


V. .  .,j 


w 


m 


Belle  and  the  boys  waving  their 
hats  in  the  bright  moonlight. 
My  wife's  face  expressed  the 
blankest  astonishment  when  she 
saw  who  was  my  shipmate. 

"  We  thought  you  must  have 
fallen  asleep  out  there.  Didn't 
know  you  had  company !  " 

Mary  was  still  in  the  black 
books  when  I  came  down  the  next 
Saturday.  Belle  had  a  bitter 
complaint. 

"  She  sat  there  the  whole  after- 
noon yesterday  and  part  of  the 
evening,  writing  and  rewriting  a 
letter  before  my  very  eyes.  *  Are 
you  replying  to  Will  Axworthy  ?* 
I  asked  quite  cordially,  for  I  did 
want  to  have  a  hand  in  answering 
that  letter — had  some  cutting 
sentences  all  ready  for  him. 
*  Yes,  mawm,'  said  sh*^  very 
shortly  ;  *  but  I  guess  I  can  man- 
age to  get  along  by  myself.' " 

I  did  not  dare  own  up  to  the 
advice  I  had  given,  but  I  saw  that 
matters  must  be  hastened.     Hav- 


II: 
li 


g  their 
onlight. 
cd  the 
len  she 

•  • 

st  have 
Didn't 

e  black 
the  next 
I    bitter 

►le  after- 
t  of  the 
riting  a 
5.     *  Are 

orthy  ? ' 
or  I  did 
iswering 

cutting 

r  him. 
very 

an  man- 

to  the 

aw  that 

Hav- 


^<^. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY.         133 

ing  business  in  Chicago  about  that 
time,  I  visited  almost  every  hospi- 
tal in  the  city,  telling  Mary's  story 
in  my  most  dramatic  newspaper 
style.  I  made  it  understood  that 
it  was  very  noble  and  self-sacrific- 
ing of  tiie  young  woman,  when 
she  might  live  in  the  lap  of 
luxury, — for  thus  did  I  unblush- 
ingly  describe  my  own  modest 
establishment, — to  embrace  a 
nurse's  vocation  and  labor  for  the 
good  of  humanity,  including  her- 
self, of  course.  The  education — 
or  the  lack  of  it — was  the  draw- 
back everywhere,  and  also  the 
youth  of  the  applicant,  twenty- 
five  being  a  more  acceptable  age 
than  barely  twenty-one. 

But  my  perseverance  was  at  last 
rewarded  by  finding  the  superin- 
tendent of  a  training  school  who 
still  had  some  imagination  left, 
and  who  became  deeply  interested 
in  Mary's  **  tale  of  v/oe." 

"  Make  her  study  her  reading, 
spelling,  and  arithmetic  as  hard  as 


I 

'I 


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w 


134 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


lit) 

mm 


I 


she  can  for  the  next  few  months, 
and  I'll  get  her  in  the  very  first 
opening." 

The  prospect  roused  Belle's  old- 
time  vigor,  and  she  had  spelling 
matches  for  Mary's  benefit,  made 
the  girl  read  aloud  to  her,  gave 
her  dictation  to  write,  and  heard 
her  the  multiplication  tables  every 
forenoon — when  she  did  not  for- 
get. 

One  delightful  morning  in 
October  I  had  the  honor  of  tak- 
ing our  prot^g^e  into  Chicago  and 
delivering  her  up  to  the  lady 
superintendent.  If  she  could  only 
stand  the  month  of  probation,  we 
flattered  ourselves  that  she  would 
be  safe. 

Three  weeks  later  I  met  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Armstrong  on  the  street. 

"  I  think  it  is  only  right  to  tell 
you  what  people  are  saying," 
said  he. 

"  It's  my  business  to  know,"  I 
replied. 

**  I   mean   about  your  adopted 


■' 


!IY. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


135 


months, 
ery  first 

;lle's  old- 
spelling 
fit,  made 
er,  gave 
id  heard 
les  every 
not  for- 

ling  in 
r  of  tak- 
:ago  and 
:he  lady 
»uld  only 
,tion,  we 
le  would 

net  the 
e  street, 
t  to  tell 
saying," 

now,"  I 

adopted 


daughter.  I  have  just  been  told 
by  two  reputable  parties,  one  after 
the  other,  that  she  has  been  dis- 
missed from  the  hospital  for  flirt- 
ing, and  that  you  and  Mrs.  Gem- 
mell  are  hushing  the  matter  up  as 
well  as  you  can,  but  that  you  don't 
know  at  all  where  she  is." 

When  I  reached  home  my  first 
question  was : 

"  Have  you  heard  from  Mary 
lately,  Belle  ?  " 

"  Not  for  a  week,  and  I'm  quite 
worried  about  her.  Before  that, 
she  wrote  to  me  dutifully  every 
two  or  three  days,  telling  me  all 
about  her  work.  I've  kept  on 
writing  to  her  just  the  same, 
making  excuses  for  her  to  her- 
self, and  never  doubting  her  for  a 
minute  ;  but  to  tell  you  the  truth, 

Dave,  I'm  getting  dreadfully  anx- 

»> 

lOUS. 

Then  I  told  her  what  I  had 
heard. 

"  Don't  you  believe  it,  David  ! 
I  never  shall    till  I  hear  it  from 


I 

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ltlM»^.'# 


136        THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 

herself.  I  know  now  for  a 
certainty  that  I  love  that  girl ! 
ril  believe  her  before  all  the 
world  !  I'll  stick  by  her  through 
thick  and  thin !  I'll  not  insult 
her  by  writing  to  the  Hospital ! 
What  now  matters  the  little  in- 
conveniences of  living  with  her? 
What  have  a  few  clothes  and 
toilet  articles,  more  or  less,  to  do 
with  it  ?  If  she  has  failed,  she 
shall  come  /lome,  and  we'll  begin 
the  three  years'  fight  all  over 
again.  I'll  sit  down  now  and 
write  her  the  nicest  letter  I  can 
write." 

That  sounded  very  brave,  but 
inwardly  I  knew  that  my  wife 
suffered  agonies  the  next  few 
days. 

''Perhaps  if  I  had  done  this," 
she  would  say,  "  or  if  I  had  done 
that — it  seems  precisely  like  a 
death,  and  I've  killed  her." 

Tuesday  morning  two  letters 
came  from  Mary.  They  were 
hurriedly   and   excitedly  written. 


for    a 
at    girl ! 
all    the 
through 
t  insult 
ospital ! 
ittle  in- 
th  her? 
les   and 
5,  to  do 
ed,    she 
11  begin 
11    over 
'W    and 
r  I  can 

ve,  but 
y  wife 
Kt    few 

:   this," 

d  done 

like   a 

letters 
'  were 
i^ritten. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY.         I37 

"  My  dear  good  mother,  I  am 
accepted  !  It  is  the  happiest  day 
of  my  life ;  it  will  be  a  red  letter 
day  for  you  !  I  love  you.  I  have 
tried  so  hard  for  your  sake ;  I 
have  tried  to  make  my  life  hear 
one  long  prayer  and  the  dear 
Lord  helps  me.  I  did  not  write 
because  the  exam,  was  delaid,  and 
I  wanted  to  wait  untill  I  had 
something  ^ood  to  tell  you.  I 
look  nice  in  the  unniform.  It  is 
pink  and  a  white  cap,  apron  and 
cuffs.  Oh  I  am  so  contented ; 
this  work  is  so  filling.  I  never 
get  lonely  or  homesick.  We 
nurses  had  a  party,  and  we  danced 
and  served  ice  cream,  and  there 
was  some  lovely  doctors  here, 
and  the  Princippal  is  so  kind  to 
us  we  have  lots  of  fun  " — and  so 
the  letters  ran  on. 

The  reaction  was  too  much 
for  Belle.  She  cried,  then  she 
laughed,  then  she  fell  on  her  knees 
and  thanked  God,  and  she  told  me 


I 

« 

1 

1 

I 

0 


m 


138        THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


Nil 


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'V    ->' 


ttmm 


i    »'if* 


she  added  that,  for  pity's  sake,  He 
7nust  set  His  angels  to  guard 
Mary,  for  she  was  a  poor,  frail 
child,  who  had  got  lost  in  coming 
this  time,  and  many  persecuted 
her  because  she  was  pretty,  and 
might  find  a  resting  place  and  get 
a  little  of  what  rightfully  (?)  be- 
longed to  them. 

After  a  while  she  went  down 
to  see  Mr.  Armstrong,  and  read 
him  the  letters.  He  turned  very 
white. 

"  Oh,  the  pity  of  it !  "  said  he. 

"  I  wish  I  could  gather  her 
slanderers  into  one  room  and  read 
them  these  letters,"  said  Belle. 

For  days  afterward  she  button- 
holed people  in  the  street  to  tell 
them  about  Mary,  or  to  read  them 
scraps  of  her  letters.  If  they  had 
said  she  was  vain  and  idle,  and 
selfish  and  incompetent,  just  like 
the  half  of  their  own  daughters. 
Belle  could  have  forgiven  them. 
It  was  their  determination 
to    shove    her    into    the    gutter 


Y. 

ake,  He 
guard 
pr,   frail 

coming 
secuted 
ty,  and 
md  get 

(?)  be. 

:  down 
d  read 
d  very 

dhe. 
er    her 
id  read 
jlle. 

)utton- 
to  tell 
i  them 
^y  had 
e,  and 
5t  like 
jhters, 
them, 
lation 
gutter 


THE   MAKING    OF    MARY. 


139 


which  made  my  wife  her  valiant 
champion. 

"  Whatever  that  girl  amounts 
to,  Dave,  will  be  born  of  our  faith 
in  her,  and  we  must  never  go  back 
on  her.  She  writes  me  that  when- 
ever she  has  a  hard  task,  such  as 
attending  fits,  there  I  stand  at  her 
back  and  help." 

"Just  between  ourselves, 
though,  you  must  confess  that  it 
is  a  great  relief  to  have  her 
away." 

**  You  can't  begin  to  feel  that 
as  I    do.     I    live  again !     I    read 
books,  think   my   own 
I    belong    to    myself, 
says,      *  What's     the 
*  Where   are   you    go- 


my  own 
thoughts. 
No  one 
matter?  * 
ing  ?  *  *  What  makes  you  grave — 
or  gay  ?  *  I  sit  and  chat  with  my 
*  odd-fish.*  I  go  to  all  kinds  of 
meetings  and  discuss  all  kinds  of 
*isms,  and  have  no  tag-tail  con- 
stantly asking  *  Why  ? '  *  Why  ?  ' 
or  'Tell  me!'  It's  the  little 
things  that  grind.     The  next  time 


f 

19' 

I 

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140        THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 

I  try  to  help  a  young  girl,  I'll  not 
risk  losing  my  influence  with  her 
by  taking  her  into  my  house.  Do 
you  know,  Dave,  I  sometimes  feel 
that  Mary  must  have  been  my 
own  child  in  a  previous  incarna- 
tion, and  I  neglected  and  abused 
her ;  that's  why  she  was  thrust 
back  upon  me  this  time,  whether  I 
liked  it  or  not." 

After  Christmas  Isabel  decided 
that  she  must  go  up  to  Chicago 
to  see  Mary,  and  on  her  return 
thrilling  was  the  account  she  gave 
of  her  experiences,  which  included 
an  attendance  at  an  autopsy — but 
upon  that  I  shall  not  enlarge. 

Introducing  herself  to  the 
Superintendent  of  the  School, 
she  said : 

"  Can  I  have  Miss  Gemmell  for 
two  days  at  my  hotel  ?  ** 

"  Indeed,  no,  madam.  We  are 
short  of  help,  and  it  would  be 
entirely  against  the  rules." 

"Then  I'll  stay  here  with 
her." 


,  I'll  not 
kvith  her 
se.  Do 
nes  feel 
een  my 
incarna- 
abused 
thrust 
lether  I 

lecided 
Chicago 
return 
le  gave 
icluded 
y — but 

0     the 
jchool, 

ell  for 

/e  are 
Id   be 

with 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


141 


The  Lady  Superintendent 
looked  distressed. 

"  Don't  think  us  inhospitable, 
but  there  is  absolutely  no  provi- 
sion for  guests  in  all  this  great 
building." 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Belle,  unabashed. 
•*  I  seem  to  be  unfortunate  in 
breaking,  or  wanting  to  break,  the 
rules  of  tnis  house.  Now,  will 
you  kindly  tell  me  what  I  can  do  ? 
How  can  I  see  the  very  most  f 
my  Mary  while  i  am  in  Chicago?" 

After  some  thought  the  answer 
came : 

"  You  may  have  Miss  Gemmell 
to-morrow  afternoon,  and  two 
hours  on  Sunday." 

"That  will  not  suit  me  at  all! 
Now,  please  forget  all  that  has 
been  said,  and  I  will  tell  you  that 
I  Mrs.  David  Gemmell  of  Lake 
City,  Michigan,  am  a  poor  tired 
woman,  threatened  with  nervous 
prostration,  have  already  chills  of 
apprehension  running  down  my 
back,  coupled  with  flushes  of  ex- 


I 
I 

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142         THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 

pectation  to  my  head."  By  this 
time  Mary,  the  Lady  Superin- 
tendent, and  two  other  nurses 
present  were  all  attention,  and 
Belle  added  gravely : 

"  T  want  one  of  your  best  pri- 
vate rooms  on  Corridor  B,  where 
Miss  Gemmell  is  on  duty,  and  I 
should  like  to  see  the  House  Sur- 
geon at  once." 

So  Belle  was  comfortably  and 
luxuriously  established  in  the 
hospital,  and  the  only  drawback 
was  that  she  had  to  be  served 
with  her  meals  in  her  room. 

"  What  feasts  we  had — Mary 
and  I,"  she  said.  ''.What  fun! 
Before  I  left  I  had  demoralized 
that  whole  hospital  staff,  and 
broken  every  rule  in  the  institu- 
tion.    It  did  them  all  good." 

"  I  hope  you  haven't  been  in- 
discreet," said  i. 

*'  Indiscreet  ?  " 

"  You  must  remember  that  Mary 
braced  herself  up  to  go  to  the 
hospital  when  she  was  '  out '  with 


m'' 


Y. 

By  this 
superin- 

nurses 
^n,  and 

•est  pri- 
,  where 
S  and  I 
ise  Sur- 
ly and 
n  the 
iwback 
served 

-Mary 
t  fun! 
ah'zed 
and 
istitu- 


THK    MAKIXC;    OF    MARY. 


143 


>» 


en  m. 


Mary 

3  the 

with 


you.  Now  you've  gone  and  made 
so  much  of  her  that  she'll  think, 
whenever  things  become  too  hot 
for  her,  she  has  only  to  march 
straight  back  here  again." 

"  She  assures  me  she  zvt// 
graduate." 

**  There  should  never  be  any 
question  of  that." 

**  David,  I've  only  told  you  the 
one  side.  If  that  girl  were  my 
very  own  I  should  pluck  her  out 
of  that  particular  fire.  I'd  get 
dovvn  on  my  knees  and  beg  her 
pardon  for  having  thrown  her 
into  it.  It  burns  up  their  youth, 
their  bloom,  their  originality,  their 
modesty.  It  thrusts  the  girls  into 
a  charnel  house  of  sin,  sickness, 
and  death.  It  shatters  the  nerv- 
ous system  of  nine  out  of  ten,  or 
it  leaves  them  calm,  steady,  burnt- 
out  women,  who  have  been  behind 
the  scenes  of  life  and  are  disillu- 
sioned. When  that  little  pink 
and  white  thing  sat  there  and 
told   me   of    some  of   the    awful 


I 
» 

t 
I 

P 

0 

m 


0 

Ilk* 


144 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


m) 


m\\ 


! 

m -' 

■"1 

1 

'^1 

1 

^^Bu 

i . 

situations  that  she'd  been  placed 
in,  and  over  which  she  was  made 
responsible,  the  tears  rolled  down 
my  face.  I  forgave  her  lots  of 
things." 

**  Plenty  of  refined,  educated 
women  with  a  very  different  bring- 
ing up  from  Mary's  go  through 
the  same." 

"  Well,  I  advised  her  to  go  on 
and  finish  the  course,  if  only  to 
show  her  friends,  and  enemies, 
the  stuff  she's  made  of.  When  I 
think  of  those  free  wards,  and  the 
menial,  disgusting  offices  that  frail 
little  girl  has  to  perform  !  What 
did  she  sow  that  she  should  reap 
this  fighting  in  the  thickest  of  the 
fight,  so  poorly  equipped  ?  " 

**  I  dare  say  there  are  allevia- 
tions." 

"  Oh,  yes !  She  flirts — says  she'd 
die  if  she  didn't — with  every  man 
in  the  place,  from  the  elevator 
boy  to  the  head  doctor,  and, 
really,  I  excused  her.  The  head 
nurse  in  Mary's  ward  is  very  harsh 


-n  placed 
I'as  made 
led  down 
r  lots  of 

educated 
tit  bring- 
through 

0  go  on 
only  to 
memies, 
When  I 
and  the 
^at  frail 
What 
lid  reap 
t  of  the 

allevia- 

s  she'd 
y  man 
levator 
,  and, 
-  head 
'  harsh 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY,         I45 


with  her,  but  I  let  her  and  every- 
one in  the  place  understand  that 
Miss  Gemmell  is  no  stray  waif 
without  influence  to  back  her. 
Every  day  I  send  out  thought- 
waves — hypnotism — whatever  you 
like  to  call  it — to  compel  that 
Dean  woman  to  think  oi  some- 
thing else  than  the  making  of 
trained  nurses,  and  physical  wrecks 
at  the  same  time.  People  are 
greater  than  institutions." 

"  The    discipline    will    be    the 
making  of  Mary.** 


I 
I 

» 

f 
I 


t 
t 

it" 


fM. 


■  'it 


1^   ^     M 


W*'^ 

•  *•' 

■f 

«4KmI,, 

IIS 

•  ';     '; 

iW' 


'.  iir?*     '  I 


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m\^ 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

^URING  the  famous 
Pullman  strike  of  last 
summer,  duty  bade  me 
cross  to  Chicago  in  the 
interests  of  the  £c/io. 
On  Saturday  afternoon,  July  the 
7th,  I  was  at  the  pulse  of  the 
Anarchist  movement,  near  the 
corner  of  Loomis  and  Forty-ninth 
Streets.  Taking  up  my  stand  in 
the  deep  entry  of  a  "  House  to 
Let,"  I  watched  the  operations  of 
a  body  of  strikers  gathered  round 
a  box  car  close  to  the  Grand  Trunk 
crossing.  They  had  set  it  afire, 
and  were  trying  to  overturn  it 
upon  the  railway  track,  encour- 
aged by  the  cheers  of  a  mob 
numbering  about  two  thousand 
men,  women,  and  children. 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


147 


famous 

of  last 

ade  me 

►  in  the 

2  Echo, 

uly  the 

of  the 

;ar    the 

:y-ninth 

tand  in 

ouse  to 

ions  of 

round 

Trunk 

afire, 

urn    it 

ncour- 

mob 

usand 


The  incendiaries  were  so  much 
engrossed  that  they  did  not  ob- 
serve, backing  swiftly  down  upon 
them,  the  wrecking  train  it  was 
their  purpose  to  block.  Vv^hile 
still  in  motion,  the  cars  disgorged 
Captain  Kelly  and  his  company, 
who  had  been  guarding  the  Pan 
Handle  tracks  all  day,  but  had 
not  yet,  it  seemed,  earned  their 
night's  repose. 

The  crowd  greeted  the  soldiers 
with  stones,  brickbats,  and  pieces 
of  old  iron,  but  the  car  burners 
proceeded  with  their  little  job, 
paying  no  attention  at  all  to  the 
approach  of  the  military. 

A  pistol  bullet  out  of  the  mob 
swished  in  among  his  men,  and 
then  Captain  Kelly  gave  the  order 
to  fire.  When  the  smoke  of  the 
volley  cleared  away,  I  saw  the 
people  stand  still,  shocked  and 
dumb  with  surprise.  A  second 
later,  realizing  that  the  worm  had 
had  the  audacity  to  turn,  they 
vented  a  medley  of  shrieks  and 


\ 


ir 

II' 

% 


148 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


't 


Ci 


*\\fc  III 

%^  I! 


|«      'I 

,iir  ''■;' 


I' 


;<C 


i^i''!  I 


, 


roars,  and  closed  round  the  hand- 
ful of  soldiers,  to  be  met  by  the 
points  of  bayonets. 

The  yelling  mass  of  humanity 
scattered,  took  refuge  in  lanes 
and  houses,  but  regaining  cour- 
age, appeared  here  and  there  in 
sections,  to  be  assailed  once  more 
by  soldiers  and  police.  The  latter 
had  to  fight  it  out  by  themselves 
after  a  while,  for  the  military 
boarded  the  wrecking  train  again, 
and  the  engineer,  completely 
"rattled,"  opened  the  throttle, 
and  whisked  them  away  to  the 
West,  leaving  a  dozen  revolver- 
armed  policemen  to  meet  the 
assaults  of  a  mob  that  had  now 
increased  to  five  thousand. 

The  Press  abuses  the  police  on 
principle,  but, seeing  that  heroic  en- 
counter, I  wavered  in  the  keeping 
of  my  promise  to  Belle  not  to  run 
into  danger.  Even  as  I  hesitated, 
**  hurry-up  wagons"  arrived  with 
re-enforcements  from  neighbor- 
ing police  stations,  and   then  the 


RY. 

:he  hand- 
t  by  the 

lumanity 
in  lanes 
ng  cour- 
there  in 
tice  more 
rhe  latter 
emselves 
military 
tin  again, 
mpletely 
throttle, 
Y  to  the 
revolver- 
leet  the 
lad  now 
i. 

5olice  on 
eroic  en- 
keeping 
)t  to  run 
esitated, 
ed  with 
eighbor- 
hcn  the 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


149 


crowd  could  not  disperse  quickly 
enough.  It  was  a  desperate 
sight — men  knocking  each  other 
down  in  their  haste  to  get  away, 
and  the  women  who  had  been 
spurring  them  on,  now  shrieking 
and  groaning  like  maniacs.  One 
of  the  poor  creatures  was  hit  on 
the  ankle  by  a  bullet,  and  her 
falling  over  into  the  gutter  was 
too  much  for  my  virtuous  resolu- 
tion. Even  if  she  is  a  dirty,  howl- 
ing Polack,  a  man  does  not  enjoy 
seeing  a  woman  knocked  down, 
so  I  left  my  doorstep  and  went  to 
help  the  lady  up.  Constitution- 
ally I  am  not  a  brave  man,  but  I 
forgot  all  about  the  flying  bul- 
lets till  one  took  me  in  the  knee, 
and  I  toppled  over,  hitting  my 
head  against  the  curbstone  as 
I  did  so.  I  must  have  been 
stunned,  for  when  I  opened  my 
eyes  again  the  street  was  empty, 
except  for  a  thundering  vehicle 
that  was  bearing  straight  down 
upon  me. 


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I 

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I* 

'if 

i 


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i.*.ii' 


150 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


At  first  I  thought  it  was  a  run- 
away, for  the  horse  was  foaming 
of  mouth  and  bloodshot  of  eye- 
ball ;  but  no,  there  was  a  man,  or 
fiend,  with  a  similar  wild  gleam  in 
his  eye,  urging  the  brute  upon 
me,  while  he  sounded  a  gong  to 
keep  everything  out  of  his  way. 
All  this  I  saw  in  a  fiash,  and  in  a 
flo'.sh  too  went  through  my  mind 
the  advice  given  by  President 
Cleveland  in  his  proclamation  to 
non-combatants  to  keep  out  of 
harm's  way. 

I  rolled  over  on  my  side  with 
the  sickening  certainty  that  the 
next  instant  the  hoofs  and  the 
wheels  would  be  upon  me,  but  the 
horse  pulled  I'p  on  his  haunches 
at  my  very  feet,  the  rattle  and 
clanging  ceased,  and  a  doctor  in 
his  shirt  sleeves  appeared  as  if  by 
magic. 

It  was  an  ambulance,  of  course. 

I  fainted  when  they  lifted  me, 
and  only  came  to  myself  in  the 
hospital — Mary's  hospital,  and  her 


lY. 

IS  a  run- 
foaming 
;  of  eye- 
man,  or 
gleam  in 
te  upon 
gong  to 
his  way. 
and  in  a 
ny  mind 
r*resident 
lation  to 
)   out   of 

ide  with 
that  the 
and  the 
,  but  the 
launches 
ttle  and 
octor  in 
as  if  by 

course, 
fted  me, 
f  in  the 

and  her 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


151 


ward.  Every  one  in  Chicago  was 
crowded  that  week  and  the  next, 
but — the  ruHng  principle  strong 
in  death — I  declined  to  be  put 
away  out  of  eyeshot  and  earshot 
into  a  private  room. 

"  D'ye  want  me  to  send  word  to 
Mis'  Gemmel  to  come?"  asked 
Mary,  and  I  replied  drowsily : 

"  No,  don't.  She's  better  to 
keep  out  of  harm's  way.  She 
would  be  sure  to  sympathize  with 
the  strikers." 

"  But  she'll  wonder  where  you 
are. 

"  She  can't  get  here  safely,  as 
things  are  now,  and  the  mails  are 
all  upset.  Don't  write.  Send  a 
telegram  in  my  name.  Date  it 
Chicago,  and  tell  her  I'm  detained, 
but  that  I'll  go  home  Monday, 
sure." 

That  same  n'ght  I  was  off  in  a 
high  fever.  It  was  days  and  days 
before  I  came  to  myself,  and  then 
I  was  too  weak  to  ask  or  to  care 
how  everything  was  going  on  at 


P 


1^ 


>ft#»l"ll| 


1^' 


rf! 


'  II 


'  III 


152 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


home.  My  whole  interest  in  life 
was  concentrated  upon  that  hospi- 
tal ward,  and  with  half-closed  eyes 
I  lay  there  and  took  notes  un- 
consciously. 

An  ideal  life  it  may  seem  to 
outsiders,  but  there  is  as  much 
wire-pulling,  as  much  jealousy 
and  scandal  within  the  walls  of 
one  of  those  big  institutions,  as 
anywhere  else  on  this  planet.  It 
is  an  epitome  of  the  world  battle, 
and  the  strugglers  meet  in  hand- 
to-hand  conflict. 

Nurse  Dean,  the  head  of  our 
ward,  tall  and  angular  in  form, 
stern  and  cold  in  feature,  was  the 
dragon  Belle  had  told  me  about, 
but  she  knew  her  business,  and  I, 
for  one,  preferred  that  she  should 
regard  me  simply  as  a  machine 
laid  up  for  repairs.  I  did  not  even 
think  her  unduly  severe  upon 
Mary,  after  I  heard  her  giving  that 
damsel  "  Hail  Columbia"  for  her 
carelessness  inhaving  adminis- 
tered   the   wrong   medicine    one 


LRY. 


THE   MAKING    OP    MARY.        153 


est  in  life 
hat  hospi- 
osed  eyes 
lotes   un- 

seem  to 
as  much 

jealousy 

walls  of 
itions,  as 
anet.  It 
d  battle, 

in  hand- 

i  of  our 

in   form, 

was  the 

e  about, 

3,  and  I, 

i  should 

machine 

not  even 

i    upon 

ing  that 

for  her 

idminis- 

ne    one 


whole  forenoon  to  Number  N'ne 
— which  was  myself. 

If  I  had  not  made  a  feeble  pro- 
test in  her  favor,  "Nurse  Gem- 
mell  "  would  have  been  discharged 
on  the  spot. 

I  do  not  wish  to  leave  the  im- 
pression that  Mary  had  not  in 
her  the  making  of  a  fairly  good 
nurse.  She  was  light  of  foot,  as 
well  as  quick  of  hand,  and  I  liked 
to  have  her  do  things  for  me ; 
found  her  aura  agreeable,  as 
Belle  would  have  expressed  it. 
Like  many  half-educated  people, 
she  was  very  observant,  but,  so 
far  as  I  could  judge,  she  had  one 
eye  on  her  work  and  the  other  on 
the  lookout  for  flirtations.  I  be- 
came quite  interested  in  some  of 
them. 

There  was  the  German  fiddler 
in  the  next  bed  to  mine,  who 
could  not  keep  his  eyes  off  Mary 
whenever  she  came  into  the  ward, 
and  once  when  Nurse  Dean  was 
off   duty,   and   she    brought   out 


r 


^•^ 


1: 


0, 


mi 


1? 


mw 


«#.  111)1 
*■  1 1 


i 


e  '■; ! 


"lii: 

'•M  HI 

111, 


111 


154       THE   MAKING    OF    MARY. 

her  silver-plated  cornet  to  "  toot  " 
a  little  for  him,  he  declared  it  was 
the  most  ravishing  music  he  had 
ever  heard  in  his  life  ! 

I  strongly  suspected  that  the 
limp  young  artisan  on  the  other 
side  of  me  was  perfectly  well 
enough  to  be  discharged,  but  he 
could  not  brace  himself  up  to 
part  from  Mary.  Then  there  was 
a  young  doctor  whose  face  I 
dimly  recognized,  but  it  tired  my 
poor  head  too  much  to  try  to 
think  who  he  was.  He  and  Mary 
had  many  a  talk  at  my  bedside 
about  their  own  affairs.  One 
evening  I  heard  the  unmistakable 
sound  of  a  banjo,  and  managed 
to  twist  myself  round  far  enough 
to  see  that  this  same  doctor  was 
playing  an  accompaniment  to 
Mary's  very  fair  imitation  of  a 
skirt  dance  out  in  the  passage. 

The  sight  revived  me  so  much 
that  I  laughed  aloud,  and  Mary 
came  hastily  forward,  blushing, 
with  finger  on  her  lip.     The  pink 


Y. 

"  toot " 

d  it  was 

he  had 

hat  the 
e  other 
\y  well 

but  he 

up   to 
ere  was 

face    I 
ired  my 

try  to 
d  Mary 
bedside 
One 
takable 
anaged 

nough 
or  was 

nt     to 
of   a 

sage, 
much 
Mary 

shing, 

e  pink 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


155 


and  white  uniform  did  indeed 
become  her  wonderfully  well,  and 
I  was  not  surprised  to  notice 
hearty  admiration  in  the  sleepy 
blue  eyes  of  the  young  house 
surgeon.  Where  had  I  seen  that 
"  Burne  Jones'  head  "  before? 

"  You  don't  seem  to  remember 
me,  Mr.  Gemmell,"  said  the  owner 
of  it,  holding  out  his  hand.  "  My 
name's  Flaker.  \  is  at  Inter- 
laken  summer  b  *orv    1st." 

"  You're  a  '  .'l-.'edged  M.  D. 
now?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  it  I'm  taking  a 
year's  practice  in  here,  before  I 
set  up  for  myself." 

Shades  of  the  hotel  matrons ! 
They  would  probably  say,  if  they 
heard  this,  that  Mary  had  been 
sent  here  on  purpose  to  catch  him. 

Poor  Mary  !  She  had  her  own 
row  to  hoe.  She  came  to  me  in 
tears  one  evening  because  Nurse 
Dean  had  been  after  her  that 
whole  day  about  one  thing  or 
another. 


If  4 


ft" 


./iW 


156       THE   MAKING   OF   MARV. 


i 


"  I  am  never  particular  'nough 
to  please  her.  If  it  wasn't  for 
Dr.  Flaker  I  wouldn't  stay  here 
another  day." 

**You  like  him  pretty  well, 
eh  ?  " 

"  Well  enough,  an'  he's  all 
broke  up  on  me  ;  says  he  was  at 
Interlaken  too,  on'y  he  couldn't 
say  anythin',  'cause  he  wasn't  of 
age.  His  folks  are  awful  high- 
toned." 

"  They'll  have  their  discipline," 
thought  I. 

"By  the  way,  Mary,  how  long 
is  it  since  I  was  brought  here?" 

"  Two  weeks  to-day." 

I  sprang  almost  out  of  bed  in 
my  surprise.  "  Why  didn't  you 
tell  me  ?  Has  no  word  been  sent 
to  Lake  City?" 

"  None  since  that  first  telegram. 
I  don't  write  very  often  now  to 
your  wife,  but  when  I  did,  I 
never  said  nothin'  'tall  about 
your  bein*  here,  'cause  you  told 
me  not  to." 


Y. 

'nough 
sn't  for 
ay  here 

:y    well, 

he's  all 
:  was  at 
couldn't 
asn't  of 
ul   high- 

cipline, 

ow  long 
ere?" 

bed  in 
I't  you 
Jen  sent 

:legram. 
now  to 
did,  I 
about 
ou  told 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARV. 


157 


**And  haven't  you  had  an 
answer?" 

'•There*:  a  letter  lyin'  there 
from  Mis'  Gemmell  to  you.  I 
don't  know  how  she  could  have 
found  out  your  address.  Nurse 
Dean  said  I  wasn't  to  give  it  to 
you  if  you  was  a  bit  feverish." 

"  Fetch  it  this  minute,  Mary,  or 
I'll  get  up  and  walk  the  floor,'' 
and  the  girl  brought  me  this 
remarkable  document.  It  had 
neither  beginning  nor  end,  but 
rusned  to  the  point  at  once. 

**  I  know  all !  You  have 
laughed  at  my  occult  tendencies, 
sneered  at  my  Theosophy,  but  I 
can  now,  alas !  give  you  convinc- 
ing proof  of  the  penetrative  power 
of  the  one,  the  sustaining  power 
of  the  other.  I  became  so  nerv- 
ous at  your  continued  silence  and 
absence  that  I  did  what  I  had 
promised  you  not  to  do — went  out 
in  my  astral  to  hunt  for  you — and 
I  found  you  !  Would  to  God  I 
had  never  tried  !      It  is  not  my 


I' 


•58 


THE    MAKING    OF   MARY. 


m 


i»«r"niil 


10* 


#'' 


«.■'• 


f^^ 

mi, 

1 

■4-,  M 

'  i ' '    '9 

-r'i  ■        '1 

■^M^T  "^M 

^^^^^^1 

H 

j^%r  -^M 

health  that  is  ruined,  but  my 
heart  and  my  happiness.  To 
make  assurance  doubly  sure,  I 
psychometrized  the  only  letter  I 
have  received  from  Mary  in  weeks. 
She  was  cunning  enough  not  to 
mention  your  name,  but  the  un- 
spoken testimony  was  the  same. 
To  think  that  you  of  all  men — 
but  I  do  not  blame  you  !  I  have 
gone  down  to  the  £c/'o  office,  my 
heart  bursting  with  despair,  and 
have  told  lies  to  account  for  your 
absence,  to  keep  things  moving 
until  you  see  fit  to  send  your  own 
explanation.  I  have  thrown  dust 
too  in  the  eyes  of  the  family,  till 
you  tell  me  your  will  concerning 
them.  No,  I  dare  not  blame  you  ! 
Did  not  I  myself  thrust  the  girl 
into  your  life — and  the  best  of  us 
are  but  human.  It  is  Karma  !  I 
have  deserved  this  blow  for  some 
previous  sin  of  my  own,  and  I  bow 
my  head  to  the  stroke.  Your  >wn 
harvest  will  be  just  as  certain, 
however  long  delayed.     O  David, 


Y. 

3ut  my 
s.  To 
sure,  I 
letter  I 
n  weeks. 
I  not  to 
the  un- 
le  same. 
I  men — 

I  have 
ffice,  my 
air,  and 
for  your 
moving 
our  own 
wn  dust 
nily,  till 
icerning 

leyou ! 
[the  girl 

St  of  us 
•ma !     I 

)r  some 
I  bow 

)ur  ^wn 
[certain, 

David, 


THK    MAKING    OK    MARV. 


159 


David  !  I  can  look  back  now  and 
sec  the  very  bc^^inning  of  your 
interest  in  Mary — but  that  it 
should  end  in  this — that  you 
should  fly  from  me  to  her "* 

Having  read  so  far,  I  burst  into 
hysterical  laughter,  and  it  took 
Mary  and  her  lover  and  Nurse 
Dean,  and  how  many  more  I  know 
not,  to  hold  me  in  bed.  Of  course 
I  had  a  relapse,  and  riy  life  was 
despaired  of,  but  I  would  not,  in 
my  icnsible  moments,  allow  Mary 
to  write  to,  or  send  for  Isabel.  I 
pictured  the  streets  still  full  of 
rioting  strikers,  and  the  mails 
and  trains  still  disorganized.  In 
waking  and  in  delirium  alike, 
"  Keep  her  out  of  harm's  way  !  ** 
I  cried,  "  I'll  go  home  to-morrow, 
sure,"  but  it  was  a  long  to-morrow 
that  saw  me  on  the  boat  bound 
for  Lake  City. 

Mary  wanted  to  accompany  me, 
for  I  was  still  very  weak,  and  had 
to  walk  with  a  stick  on  account  of 
my  knee,  but    I    said   brusquely, 


fwrn'm^ 


1 60 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


"  You  stay  where  you  are,  and 
keep  an  eye  on  Dr.  Flaker,  or 
you'll  maybe  get  left  again." 

"  No  fear  of  that !  "  she  said, 
holding  up  her  left  hand  to  show 
me  a  broad  gold  band  with  five 
diamonds  in  it,  adorning  her  third 
finger. 

"  We'll  be  married  as  soon  as 
his  year  is  out,  for  he  has  plenty 
of  money." 

The  stones  in  her  ring  caught 
the  evening  sunlight  as  she  stood 
on  the  wharf  waving  her  handker- 
chief to  me,  while  the  boat  moved 
slowly  out,  and  I  lay  in  a  steamer 
chair  on  the  hurricane  deck,  pre- 
pared to  enjoy  a  smoke  and  a 
gossip  with  my  old  friend,  the 
captain. 

I  wished  her  well  with  all 
my  heart,  but  I  sincerely  hoped 
that  I  had  seen  the  last  of 
Mary. 

'Judging  the  family  to  be  at 
Interlaken  as  usual,  I  took  the 
first  train  down  there,  and  toiled 


'  M 


lY. 


THE    MAKING    OF     MARY. 


Ibl 


ire,   and 

aker,   or 

♦» 
n. 

he   said, 

to  show 

vith  five 

her  third 

soon  as 
IS  plenty 

I  caught 

he  stood 

handker- 

it  moved 

steamer 

ck,  pre- 

and   a 

nd,    the 

vith    ali 
hoped 
last    of 

be   at 

ook  the 
toiled 


in  the  sun  from  the  depot  up  to 
the  cottages,  by  way  of  t:he  hill, 
which  I  had  never  considered 
steep  before,  to  find  my  own 
house  deserted,  windows  and 
doors  boarded  up,  veranda  un- 
swept,  hammocks  removed.  I 
would  not  give  any  of  the  neigh- 
bors the  satisfaction  of  knowing  I 
was  surprised  and  disappointed, 
so  I  kept  out  of  sight  till  they 
had  all  been  to  the  hotel  for  din- 
ner and  dispersed.  Then  I  went 
in  for  mine,  and  after  it  returned 
to  the  beach  near  the  station,  lay 
down  on  the  sand,  and  waited  for 
the  next  train. 

There  was  not  one  back  to 
town  until  late  in  the  af*:ernoon, 
and  the  evening  being  cloudy,  it 
was  quite  dark  by  the  time  I  left 
the  electric  car  at  the  corner  of 
our  street.  Even  that  little  bit  of 
a  walk  exhausted  me,  and  I  had 
to  rest  on  my  stick  every  few 
minutes,  but  what  a  relief  it  was 
to  see,  gleaming  cheerfully  as  ever, 


1; 


If', 

K 


I!;: ':1s 


"fsr^J   nil 


162 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


the  windows  of  the  House  ot  the 
Seven  Gables. 

I  leaned  against  our  iron  railing 
for  a  minute  or  two  to  collect  my- 
self before  making  my  appear- 
ance, and  highly  necessary  was  it 
for  me  to  do  so,  because  ihe  atti- 
tude of  the  two  ladies  upon  the 
veranda  struck  me  dumb  with 
amazement,  and  their  conversa- 
tion completely  floored  me.  That 
sandy-haired  little  woman  in  the 
low  rocker  must  be  my  mother, 
but  could  that  regal  figure  on  the 
edge  of  the  veranda,  with  her 
head  in  my  mother's  lap,  possibly 
be  my  wife  ?  The  light  from  the 
nursery  window  showed  them  to 
me  distinctly,  but  I  kept  back  in 
the  shadow  and  listened  to  the 
voices. 

**  My  puir  lamb !  YeVe  grat 
eneugh  !  Gang  awa'  tae  yer  bed  ; 
ye're  sair  forfoughten." 

As  she  stroked  the  wavy  gray 
hair  of  the  head  on  her  knee,  her 
tone  changed. 


RY. 


;e  oi-  the 

)n  railing 

llect  my- 

appear- 

y  was  it 

the  atti- 

ipon  the 

nb    with 

:onversa- 

e.     That 

n  in  the 

mother, 

e  on  the 

with  her 

possibly 

rom  the 

hem  to 

back  in 

to  the 

[ve   grat 
^er  bed ; 

ry  gray 
lee,  her 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


163 


"  I  canna  thole  to  think  'at  son 
o'  mine  has  brocht  a'  this  trouble 
upon  ye," 

''  Not  a  word  against  him, 
mother!  He's  the  best  man  that 
ever  lived,  and  I  didn't  appreciate 
him,  that's  all.  I  can  never  think 
of  him  but  as  my  dear,  old,  solid, 
yours-to-count-on  Dave  Gemmell. 
He  was  the  silent  partner,  unpopu- 
lar, getting  no  praise,  paying  all 
bills,  backing  me  up  in  every  fad, 
whether  his  judgment  approved 
or  not.  He  was  just  the  square 
foundation  I  could  lean  away  out 
on — could  dance  jigs  on  if  I 
wanted  to.  Now  that  he  is  dead — 
or  dead  to  me — I  can  only  hope 
that  he  is  happy.  Oh  !  if  I  had 
but  listened  to  you,  mother,  had 
never  brought  that  girl  into  the 
house.  My  own  vineyard  have  I 
not  kept." 

**  Let  by-ganes  be  by-ganes — 
but  I  wad  jest  like  to  hae  Davvit 
by  the  lug." 

"  Lug  along,  mother  !     Here  I 


It 
11  r^ 


164 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


h>' 


§,'j^-  *■  m 


t 


ff^m-n' 


i«**  ,1' , 

r  ^  »| 

,1,1**    '':*H" 

|i#»*   :f|| 


#iS 


am  ! "  I  managed  to  shout,  and 
then  I  hung  over  that  fence  and 
laughed  till  my  specs  dropped  off 
in  the  grass,  and  my  stick  fell 
away  from  me.  I  could  not  move 
without  it,  so  I  had  to  wait  till 
the  two  women  took  pity  on  me 
and  released  me  from  my  impale- 
ment. 

Betv/''en  them  they  got  me  into 
the  house  and  on  to  my  old  sofa, 
and  listened  to  what  I  had  to  say. 

''  I  was  share  there  must  be 
some  iuistak','*  said  my  mother, 
her  self-respect  restored,  but,  when 
I  saw  how  affectionately  her  hand 
rest'^'  i  on  the  bowed  head  of  her 
weepirig  daughter-in-law,  I  did  not 
regret  the  bullet  in  my  knee. 

"  We'll  put  it  all  down  to  your 
Theosophy,  Belle — a  collection  of 
half-truths,  more  dangerous  than 
lies,  when  you  shove  them  too 
far." 

"  Don't  let  us  talk  about  that 
now,  David.  It  breaks  my  heart 
to  see  you  so  thin.     Your  clothes 


RY. 

out,  and 
mce  and 
)pped  off 
stick  fell 
lot  move 
wait  till 
^  on  me 
7  impale- 

t  me  into 
old  sofa, 
id  to  say. 
must  be 

mother, 
put,  when 
her  hand 

d  of  her 

'.  did  not 
nee. 

to  your 
ection  of 
ous  than 

lem   too 

out  that 
ny  heart 
clothes 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


i6s 


are  just  hanging  on  you.  Oh  !  if 
I  had  only  known  the  true  state 
of   the   case   and   been   there   to 


nurse  you 


I 


*'  Mary  has  been  very  good  to 
me,  I  assure  you." 

**  I  don't  want  to  think  about 
that  girl  any  more.  I'm  glad  she's 
all  right,  but  I  hope  never  to  lay 
eyes  on  her  again." 

"  Oh,  yes,  she':,  all  right,  and 
when  she  marries  Dr.  Flaker 
she  won't  want  to  */rt!pa'  and 
*  mamma.*  us,  though  she  may 
condescend  to  patronize  us  a 
little." 

"  I'll  be  gled  o'  the  day  she 
draps  the  name  o'  Gemmell !  " 

My  wife  is  still  a  theosopl  st. 
If  it  pleases  her  to  think  that  she 
has  ascertained  t^  nature  and 
method  of  existence,  I  have  noth- 
ing to  say.  Soretirnes  I  even 
look  with  envy  upon  her  cheerful 
attitude  toward  the  approach  of 
old  age,  her  conviction  that  we 


!  !•■ 


i66 


THE    MAKING    OF    MARY. 


m- 


[:/-■  '."i    t 


*#   M;t" 


m 


are  to  have  another  chance — many 
more  chances — to  do  and  to  be 
that  which  we  have  failed  in  doing 
and  being,  t/it's  time. 

To  judge  of  a  tree  by  its  fruits, 
there  is,  of  course,  no  doubt  that 
Isabel,  because  of,  or  in  spite  of 
her  Theosophy,  has  been 

The  Making  of  Mary. 


I'lMi;., 


VRY. 

ce — many 
ind  to  be 
d  in  doing 

its  fruits, 
oubt  that 
n  spite  of 
n 

^ARY. 


t- 


EPILOGUE. 

URSE  DEAN  walked 
through  the  Pest  House, 
adjoining  the  great 
hospital,  with  the  in- 
dependent mien  of  the 
woman  who  is  confident  that  her 
skirt  clears  the  ground.  Her 
keen,  light-colored  eyes  took  in  at 
a  glance  the  condition  of  every 
patient,  the  occupation  of  every 
nurse. 

There    had    been    a    smallpox 
epidemic  in  Chicago,  and  three  of 

the   nurses   in Hospital   had 

taken  the  disease,  two  of  them 
lightly,  one  very  heavily ;  but  all 
were  now  convalescent.  The  two 
had  gone  home  to  their  friends  to 


1 68 


EPILOGUE. 


1 


-I  ■" 


:  ■  I  '  ^-  ■ 

HI**"'' »''■]> 

•'■']  |!»  ,-tii;M|i 


recruit,  but  the  third  lay  in  an 
invalid  chair  in  a  darkened  room, 
looking  as  if  the  desire  of  life  had 
left  her.  Nurse  Dean  came  in 
with  a  cheery  smile,  put  on  just 
outside  the  door,  and  proceeded 
to  bathe  the  girl's  eyes  with  warm 
water. 

**  When  are  you  coming  out  to 
help  me,  Mary?  I'm  sure  the 
light  wouldn't  hurt  you  now.  I'm 
having  too  much  night  work, 
those  other  nurses  being  gone. 
I  thought  you  might  begin  to 
ease  me  a  little  with  the  smallpox 
patients  through  the  day." 

"  I  don't  know  as  I  care  to  go 
on  with  the  business,"  replied 
Mary,  sometime  called  Mason. 

"  Nonsense !  You're  low- 
spirited  just  now  because  you're 
not  quite  better,  but  wait  till 
you're  on  your  feet  and  going 
around  the  wards  again.  There's 
nothing  like  work  of  this  sort 
to  make  a  person  forget  her- 
self." 


\ 


EPILOGUE. 


169 


lay  in  an 
jned  room, 
of  life  had 
1  came  in 
Lit  on  just 
proceeded 
with  warm 

ing  out  to 

sure   the 

now.     I'm 

jht     work, 

iing  gone. 

begin    to 

^  smallpox 
»» 

y- 

are  to  go 
,"   replied 
Mason, 
re        low- 
ise  you're 

wait    till 

nd    going 

There's 

this  sort 
rget    her- 


Nurse  Dean's  strong  but  gen- 
tle hands  began  to  rub  with 
oil  the  patient's  neck  and  shoul- 
ders. 

"  I  wish  I  could  forget  myself 
and  everybody  else  too.  I  wish  I 
had  died  of  the  smallpox.  There 
aint  anybody  that  cares  whether 
I  live  or  die." 

**Hush!  Mary,  you  forget  Dr. 
Flaker." 

"Aint  it  just  him  I'm  thinkin* 
about?  He  came  in  to  see  me 
to-day  for  the  first  time.  He 
hates  smallpox,  and  he  smelt  so 
of  iodoform  he  nearly  made  me 
sick.  About  all  he  had  to  say 
was  that  it  was  very  foolish  of  me 
to  meddle  with  the  clothes  of 
them  patients,  and  he  could 
hardly  believe  I  was  so  crazy's 
not  to  be  vaccinated  when  the 
other  nurses  were.  Just  as  if  it 
wasn't  him  that  admired  my 
lovely     arms.      Look     at     them 


^1 


now ! 


I" 


"  They  won't  be  so  bad  when 


\ 


lyo 


EPILOGUE. 


r^ 


in 


'■'ii|n 


all  these  scales  are  off.  There ! 
Doesn't  thai;  feel  better?" 

"  It  feels  all  right  enough,  but 
you  know  I'll  be  a  sight  to  be 
seen  the  rest  of  my  days.  I  was 
glad  the  room  was  dark,  so's 
Flaker  couldn't  get  a  good  look 
at  me.  He'll  know  soon  enough 
— and  hate  the  sight  of  me.  H*^ 
was  always  so  proud  of  my  -ar- 
ance." 

•'  But  I'm  sure  he  likes  you  for 
something  else  too,  Mary." 

"  I  don't  care  whether  he  does 
or  not,  he's  got  to  marry  me  just 
the  same.  I  aint  goin'  to  be  left 
again,"  and  the  girl  tried  to  make 
a  blazing  diamond  ring  keep  in 
place  upon  her  thin  finger. 

**  You  love  him  very  much  ?'* 

"  Don't  know  as  I  do — no  more 
than  lots  of  other  fellows  ;  but  I 
won't  have  any  more  chances 
now.  I  didn't  ask  to  be  born  into 
this  world,  and  somebody  in  it 
owes  me  a  living." 

''  See   here,    Mary  !  "    said    the 


\ 


- 

EPILOGUE.                         171 

There ! 

nurse,    in    a    suddenly    energetic 

>• 

tone  that  made  the  girl  look  up 

ugh,  but 

at  her  with  startled  eyes.     "  You 

ht  to  be 

know,  as   well  as  I  do,  that  you 

.     I  was 

can't  make  that  man  marry  you. 

ark,    so's 

Why  not  give  him  back  his  ring 

ood  look 

of  your  own  free  will?" 

enough 

"  Why  should  I  ?     You  think  I 

ne.     H** 

aint  in  love  }  " 

ny      .dr- 

"  Love  ?     You  don't  know  what 
the   word    means    in    any  but  its 

you  for 

very  lowest   sense.     Suppose  you 

• 

stop  loving  men,  and  take  to  lov- 

he does 

ing  women    and    children ;    you'll 

me  just 

find  them  much  more  grateful,  I 

be  left 
to  make 

can  tell  you." 

Mary  closed  her  eyes,  but  there 

keep  in 

were   no   eyelashes   to   keep    the 

• 

tears  from  trickling  out  upon  the 

ich?" 

scarred  face. 

lo  more 

*'  My  dear  child !  "  said  Nurse 

;  but  I 

Dean,  in   a   voice   hardly    recog- 

chances 

nizable,    it   was     so   sympathetic. 

il 

1 

Drn  into 

"  you've  been  fighting  for  yourself 

y   in  it 

ever  since  you  can  remember,  and 
you    haven't    made   much   of   it. 

1 

id    the 

1 

have  you  ?  " 

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EPILOGUE. 


*11 


to/"*' 


The  girl's  lips  shaped  an  inaudi- 
ble "  No." 

"  Wouldn't  it  be  a  good  idea, 
then,  to  try  a  little  fighting  for 
other  people?  " 

"  I  haven't  any  folks." 

"  Your  *  folks '  are  whoever  you 
can  help  in  any  way.  What  have 
you  done  yet  to  deserve  a  foot- 
hold on  this  earth  ?  Instead  of 
seeing  how  much  you  can  get 
out  of  everybody,  turn  round  and 
see  how  much  you  can  do  for 
them." 

There  was  a  long  silence. 
When  Nurse  Dean  thought  her 
charge  was  falling  asleep,  she 
placed  a  shawl  carefully  over  her, 
but  Mary,  without  opening  her 
eyes,  drew  something  from  her 
left  hand  to  her  right. 

"  You  can  give  him  back  his 
ring,"  she  said. 

Nurse  Dean  closed  the  door 
softly  behind  her,  and  then 
paused  for  a  moment  to  wipe  an 


1  an  inaudi- 

good  idea, 
ghting  for 

»» 

loever  you 
What  have 
rve  a  foot- 
[nstead  of 
I  can  get 
round  and 
an   do   for 


I  silence, 
ought  her 
sleep,  she 
''  over  her, 
ening  her 
from   her 

L  back  his 

the  door 
ind  then 
o  wipe  an 


EPILOGUE. 


173 


impertinent   tear   from   her    cold 
gray  eye. 

*'  I  shouldn't  be  at  all  surprised 
if  the  smallpox  were  just  The 
Making  of  Mary." 


THE  END. 


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